Oral Etoposide for Platinum-Resistant and Recurrent Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: a Study by the Anatolian Society of Medical Oncology

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of long-term, low-dose oraletoposide as an advanced treatment option in patients with platinum resistant epithelial ovarian cancer. Materialsand
Methods: For the purposes of this study, 51 patients with histologically-confirmed, recurrent or metastaticplatinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) treated at six different centers between January 2006 andJanuary 2011 were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were treated with oral etoposide (50 mg/day for a cycleof 14 days, repeated every 21 days).
Results: Among the 51 platinum-resistant patients, 17.6% demonstrateda partial response and 25.5% a stable response. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 3.9 months(95% CI, 2.1-5.7), while the median overall survival was 16.4 months (11.8–20.9). No significant relationship wasobserved between the pre-treatment CA 125 levels, post-treatment CA-125 levels and the treatment responserates (p=0.21). Among the 51 patients who were evaluated in terms of toxicity, grade 1 or 4 hematologic toxicitywas observed in 19 (37.3%); and grade 1-4 gastrointestinal toxicity occurred in 15 patients (29.4%).
Conclusions:Chronic low-dose oral etoposide treatment is generally effective and well-tolerated in platinum-resistant ovariancancer patients.