Weekly carboplatin in elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is frequently diagnosed in patients over 65 years old, but limited data are available on tolerance and effectiveness of chemotherapy in this subset of patients. A total of 21 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer were treated with weekly carboplatin following failure of first-line chemotherapy. Median age was 73 years (range, 66-85). Patients received carboplatin at the dose 100 mg/m(2)/week with discontinuation for severe toxicity or documented progression. A total of 228 cycles were administered (median per patients, 10 cycles). Six partial remissions (29%; 95% confidence interval, 11-52%), 6 stabilizations of disease, and 9 disease progressions were observed. Median time to progression was 6 months. No toxic deaths were observed. Side effects consisted mainly of anemia (grade 3 in 3 cases) and neutropenia. Non-hematologic toxicity was minimal. In conclusion, the schedule has moderate activity with good tolerability in elderly patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.