Effective high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow infusion in resistant ovarian cancer

Two patients with persistent minimal ovarian cancer after conventional polychemotherapy were treated with high doses of cyclophosphamide and VP 16-213 followed by autologous bone marrow infusion. Ten months afterward no clinical signs of tumor were apparent. In one patient the complete response was surgically documented. Toxicity included cardiac and pulmonary arrest during marrow infusion in one patient, but was otherwise manageable. This method of late intensification of chemotherapy in patients with persisting ovarian cancer merits further investigation.