Objective: A prospective evaluation of an ambulatory intraperitoneal (IP) /intravenous (IV) chemotherapy regimen for women with epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC).
Methods: Cisplatin 100 mg/m(2) (option for 75 mg/m(2)) IP combined with paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) IV (3 h infusion) administered every 21 days was adopted by our institution as a single day, outpatient regimen for women with stage III EOC who had undergone optimal cytoreductive (<or=1 cm) surgery. A prospective database including patient characteristics, toxicity (graded as per CTCAE-v 3.0) and time spent in the outpatient unit was established to follow patients receiving IP chemotherapy.
Results: Between December 2005 and June 2008, 47 patients, median age 50 years (range 25-75) received a total of 238 cycles of IP/IV chemotherapy. The median number of cycles was 6 (range 1-6). 81% of patients (n=33) completed 6 planned cycles of treatment. Seven patients discontinued IP chemotherapy early due to catheter related complications (3) and chemotherapy toxicity (4). The most common grade 3 adverse events were abdominal pain (15%), nausea (15%), vomiting (13%), fatigue (11%) and peripherally neuropathy (9%). Residual peripheral neuropathy was reported at last follow up in 11 patients (grade 3 in 2). The median time spent in the chemotherapy unit was 7 h (range 6.5 to 9) per cycle.
Conclusions: Cisplatin 100 mg/m(2) IP combined with paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) IV every 21 days is well tolerated and can be administered in an ambulatory chemotherapy unit. This regimen is convenient for patients and potentially more cost effective than other published IP cisplatin-based regimens.