Objectives: To assess patient compliance and efficacy of a combination chemotherapy consisting of weekly administration of paclitaxel and carboplatin for gynecologic malignancy in Japanese women.
Methods: Fourteen ovarian and three uterine cancer patients received 80 mg/m2 of paclitaxel (paclitaxel) and AUC 1.5 to 2.0 of carboplatin weekly. The toxicity was evaluated and patients' QOL was tested.
Results: Neutropenia higher than grade 3 were observed in 29.4%. Four patients received G-CSF support. Grade 1 neurotoxicity was seen in 76.5% of patients. Evaluation of QOL by EORTC-QLQC30 showed significantly better tolerance of a weekly than monthly regimen. Three out of four patients with lung metastasis showed complete disappearance of the lesions. One patient with stage IIIb cervical cancer underwent postchemotherapy-hysterectomy and a complete pathological response was confirmed. The overall response rate was 64.7% including patients previously treated with platinum based multidrug regimens.
Conclusions: A weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin regimen was well tolerated by Japanese women. The regimen was active in over 60% of cases and it also appeared active in multidrug resistant cases.