Purpose: The objective of this study was to compare the quality of life (QoL) of ovarian cancer patients treated with paclitaxel/carboplatin (TC) versus paclitaxel/cisplatin (PT) and to determine the impact of treatment toxicity on the various QoL domains.
Patients and methods: In this phase III trial, 798 patients with ovarian cancer stages IIB-IV were randomly assigned to receive TC or PT. The primary end point was progression-free survival; secondary end points included toxicity, QoL, and response to treatment. Patients completed the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 before treatment, within 3 days before the second and the fourth chemotherapy cycle, and 3 weeks after completion of chemotherapy.
Results: Previously reported data showed that patients undergoing TC or PT did not differ in progression-free survival and overall survival. However, the TC arm was superior, indicating a better overall QoL compared with the PT arm. Controlling for toxicity and age, a significant treatment by assessment time interaction was found for four QoL functioning scales and three symptoms scales. Patients in the TC arm showed better means scores after treatment on overall QoL (P = .012), physical functioning (P = .012), role functioning (P = .005), and cognitive functioning (P = .024), compared with the PT arm. Concerning symptom experience, patients undergoing TC showed less nausea and vomiting (P < .001), less appetite loss (P < .001), and less fatigue (P = .033) after completion of treatment compared with patients undergoing PT.
Conclusion: The TC regimen achieved better QoL outcomes compared with the PT regimen. Thus, clinicians may consider replacing cisplatin with carboplatin when treating ovarian cancer patients with chemotherapy.