We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of docetaxel and carboplatin in patients with platinum and paclitaxel-pretreated recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancer. Forty-two women (38 with ovarian cancer, 1 with fallopian tube cancer, 3 with peritoneal cancer) whose cancer had progressed within 12 months of their last treatment with both a platinum agent and paclitaxel were treated with docetaxel (70 mg/m(2), day 1) and carboplatin (area under the curve of 4-6, day 1). Thirty-four patients had measurable disease. The objective response rate was 23% within 0-6 months of the progression-free interval, 50% within 6-12 months, and 32% (11 of 34 patients) for both groups. The median time to tumor progression was 28, 49, 34 weeks, and the median overall survival time was 94, 224, 111 weeks, respectively. The most common toxicity was grade 3/4 neutropenia (98% of patients), with 15 episodes (8.4% of courses) of neutropenic fever. The main nonhematologic toxicity was hypersensitivity; 7 patients (17%) required discontinuation of the therapy. The results of our study indicate that the combination of docetaxel and carboplatin is effective against recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancer with progression-free interval of 6-12 months from previous treatment by paclitaxel and platinum. On the other hand, single-agent chemotherapy would be better than this regimen considering its low response rate and severe hematological toxicity for patients with progression-free interval less than 6 months.