A prospective randomized trial comparing high-dose cisplatin with low-dose cisplatin and chlorambucil in advanced ovarian carcinoma.

Sixty-one patients with FIGO stage III ovarian carcinoma and 30 patients with stage IV ovarian carcinoma were randomized to receive either high-dose cisplatin (100 mg/m2) or low-dose cisplatin (20 mg/m2) and chlorambucil. Overall response rates were similar in both arms, with 68% and 49% of stage III patients and 61% and 72% of stage IV patients responding to high-dose cisplatin and the combination, respectively. There was a strong trend for better survival in stage III (P less than .05) but not in stage IV patients treated with cisplatin alone. The toxicity suffered by patients treated with high-dose cisplatin was severe, and in 15 patients cisplatin therapy was stopped because of unacceptable toxicity.