Background/aim: There have not been enough recent studies investigating the incidence or efficacy of dose reduction in adjuvant chemotherapy for epithelial ovarian cancer. This study examined whether patients who needed dose reduction showed poorer survival outcomes.
Patients and methods: From 2011 to 2021, 102 patients were included in the study. Patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and those with early-stage disease were excluded. Patients were divided into two groups: those who had a ≥60% dose reduction during the whole period of first-line adjuvant chemotherapy, and those with dose reductions <60%. Of the 102 patients, 38 (37.3%) underwent dose reduction ≥60%.
Results: PFS was significantly longer in the group whose dose reductions were ≥60%, whereas OS was not significant.
Conclusion: A dose reduction of ≥60%, determined by patients' medical conditions, during first-line of adjuvant chemotherapy does not negatively influence survival outcomes, such as OS and PFS, in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.
Keywords: Chemotherapy; clinical outcomes; dose reduction; ovarian cancer; overall survival; progression-free survival.
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