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Combination Doxorubicin and Gemcitabine Shows Promise in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer: Presented at SGO

By Bonnie Darves

SAN DIEGO, CA -- February 13, 2004 -- Patients with ovarian cancer who have failed multiple therapies might benefit from treatment with a combination of liposomal doxorubicin and gemcitabine, according to a new study presented here this week at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.

The drug combination has been used as a first-line treatment in metastatic breast and bladder cancer with some success, but has only recently been tried in platinum-resistant ovarian-cancer patients. The combination is primarily reserved for salvage-setting situations, however, because of its high toxicity level, noted lead author Bradford Whitcomb, MD, senior fellow, gynaecologic oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.

This study found that although toxicity was high (47.6%), there did not appear to be overlapping toxicity between the 2 drugs. Said Dr. Whitcomb: "This combination appears to have some activity in the salvage setting, and we saw non-overlapping toxicity." He added that some of the toxicity that did occur, especially skin rashes, stomatitis, and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia might be addressed with dose adjustments, which the researchers are currently exploring.

The study, for which preliminary data were reported, included 21 patients who had failed 2 or more chemotherapy regimens prior to receiving the gemcitabine-doxorubicin combination; some patients had received as many as 14 treatments. The patients, with a mean age of 61 years, received up to 1500 mg/m² of gemcitabine and ~25 mg/m² doxorubicin on Days 1 and 15 of a 28-day cycle. Those who received at least 2 cycles of the combination were evaluated based on their CA-125 levels.

In all, 16.7% of patients had a complete response and 44.4% demonstrated partial response to the combination therapy. The best response was seen in patients who had previously demonstrated sensitivity to platinum drugs, Dr. Whitcomb noted.

Survival data for the study group will be published in approximately 6 to 12 months.


[Study Title: Liposomal Doxorubicin and Gemcitabine in the Treatment of Recurrent Ovarian and Primary Peritoneal Cancer. Abstract 237]

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