The combination of monthly carboplatin and weekly paclitaxel is highly active for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer.

Objectives: To evaluate the response rate and toxicity of a regimen comprised of monthly carboplatin and weekly paclitaxel for recurrent ovarian cancer.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer treated between 2001 and 2006 at a single institution with carboplatin AUC 5 (day 1), and paclitaxel 80 mg/m(2) (days 1, 8, 15) of a 28-day cycle. Primary endpoints were response rate, progression-free survival and overall survival.

Results: Twenty patients were treated with this regimen from 2001 to 2006. Stage ranged from stages IC to IV. All received intravenous platinum and taxane as their initial therapy. Histologic subtypes included papillary serous (17), carcinosarcoma (1), and clear cell (2). The median number of prior regimens was 1 (range 1-3). The overall response rate was 85.0% (15 complete responses, 2 partial responses). Patients with tumors categorized as platinum sensitive had a response rate of 93.3% (14/15) and those with tumors deemed platinum resistant had a response rate of 60.0% (3/5). The median survival has not yet been reached after a median follow-up of 28 months. Neutropenia was the only grade 3/4 toxicity, occurring in 7 patients (35.0%). Platinum hypersensitivity reactions occurred in 5 patients (25.0%) who all successfully continued treatment using a carboplatin desensitization protocol.

Conclusions: A monthly carboplatin and weekly paclitaxel regimen is highly active for women with recurrent platinum-sensitive and platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer. The regimen is well tolerated. This pilot series demonstrates the potential for this regimen as treatment of choice among doublet first salvage regimens for patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer, thus warranting multi-institutional study.