Phase II clinical trial of doxifluridine in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

35 evaluable patients were treated with 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (doxifluridine), a fluoropyrimidine derivative. All patients had been heavily pretreated and had refractory disease. Treatment with doxifluridine at a dosage of 3000 mg/m2 given intravenously for 5 successive days at 3-week intervals led to 6 partial remissions (17%). The main side-effects were central neurotoxicity, stomatitis and myelotoxicity, resulting in 2 toxic deaths. In patients with renal function disturbances, toxicity proved to be more severe. We concluded that the drug should not be used in patients with renal impairment. Because responses have been encountered, further evaluation of the drug may be warranted in the less toxic oral form.