Intraperitoneal chemotherapy with cisplatin and etoposide in ovarian carcinoma patients who are clinically in complete remission.

We assessed the efficacy of short term intraperitoneal treatment with cisplatin (200 mg/m2) and etoposide (300 mg/m2) in 21 ovarian carcinoma patients who were in complete clinical remission after completion of postoperative cisplatin based chemotherapy. Second-look laparotomy was done in 17 patients prior to intraperitoneal chemotherapy and in 10, minimal residual disease was found. The mean follow-up was 24 (range 9-54) months. The projected overall survival 54 months after diagnosis was 60% and the median PFI 26 months. The median survival and PFI of patients with minimal residual disease at second-look laparotomy was only 27 and 18 months respectively. In all patients with relapse the recurrence was intraperitoneal. The combination intraperitoneal chemotherapy schedule used does not seem to be more effective for ovarian carcinoma patients who are clinically in complete remission than the intraperitoneal treatment with cisplatin alone reported in other series.