Feasibility of a Modified Outpatient Regimen of Intravenous/Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy in Optimally Debulked Stage III Ovarian Cancer Patients.

The objective of the study was to assess the feasibility, toxicity, and reasons for early discontinuation of a modified outpatient intraperitoneal/intravenous (IP/IV) chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of patients with optimally debulked stage III ovarian cancer.Between February 2006 and November 2008, 51 consecutive patients from Institutions of the Spanish Ovarian Cancer Group (GEICO) were treated with a modified outpatient IP chemotherapy regimen. Patients received IV paclitaxel 175 mg/m² over 3 hours on day 1, followed by IP cisplatin 100 mg/m² (or 75 mg/m² according to the principal investigator's criteria) on day 2. On day 8, patients received IP paclitaxel 60 mg/m². To homogenize the IP administration and supportive measures, a GEICO guideline for IP chemotherapy was established. Patients were treated with the intention to receive 6 courses of chemotherapy every 21 days.The median age of the patients was 49 years (range, 36-75 years), and most of them had papillary serous ovarian cancer (78%), International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIIC (76%). Thirty-nine patients completed 4 or more IP cycles, and 28 (61%) completed all 6 IP cycles. Twenty-two patients discontinued the IP/IV treatment, mainly because of chemotherapy toxicity (10 patients) and catheter-related complications (5 patients). The most prevalent grade 3/4 toxicities were neutropenia (14 patients; 30%) and gastrointestinal events (12 patients; 26%).The GEICO outpatient modified regimen resulted in a lesser toxicity and a greater rate of treatment completion than previously reported. The accurate selection of patients and the administration following well-defined guidelines can increase the feasibility of IP chemotherapy administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]