Carboplatin (every 21 days) and divided-dose paclitaxel (days 1, 11): rationale and tolerance in chemotherapy naïve women with high-grade epithelial cancers of Mullerian origin.

PURPOSE

We report here on the tolerance of a carboplatin-'divided dose' paclitaxel (given on days 1 and 11) regimen in chemotherapy-naïve patients with resected and staged endometrial epithelial neoplasms deemed at high-risk of recurrence or early stage epithelial high-grade serous tubo-ovarian adenocarcinomas after risk-reducing surgery. More recently, we applied this regimen as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer presentations.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review of patients receiving this day 1, 11 paclitaxel regimens in combination with carboplatin at AUC 6 every 3 weeks since 2004 was carried out by the second author with subsequent updates by the first and third authors. Tolerance over the first three cycles was analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 27 women were treated with at least three cycles of this paclitaxel 'divided dose' schedule combined with carboplatin: 6 had endometrial adenocarcinoma, 9 had early stage ovarian cancer, and 12 received it as part of neoadjuvant therapy prior to undergoing cytoreductive surgery. Only 14 of 27 patients required dose reductions to complete the first three cycles of treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

A median of three cycles of divided dose paclitaxel (D1, D11) concurrent with carboplatin dosed every 3 weeks was found to be safe and feasible as adjuvant to surgery in early endometrial and ovarian cancers or as neoadjuvant treatment in chemotherapy-naive women with ovarian cancer.