engleski

Therapy of ovarian cancer with paclitaxel: Our results

The aim of investigation. Standard chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced ovarian cancer stage II to stage IV is the combination of paclitaxel with cisplatin/carboplatin. More than 75% of patients are diagnosed at these stage of disease. At the begining of the 90's of last century this combination of agents was used in recurrencies after initial chemotherapy with cisplatin/carboplatin with cyclophosphamide and/or adriamycin and has, proving to have satisfactory results, since 1995 been used in the first-line therapy. Methods. At Gynecologic Cancer Center, University Hospital Zagreb the use of paclitaxel started in 1994 ; from 1994 to 1996 paclitaxel was exclusively used for patients with recurrent disease. The use of paclitaxel plus cisplatin/carboplatin combination began as the first-line therapy in 1996. From 1994 to 2002 a total of 65 patients were treated with this combination. In 1997 paclitaxel was listed by the Croatian Health Insurance Agency (HZZO) as therapy for recurrent disease ; in 1998 was the special request to HZZO for the first-line therapy and in 2002 separate funds were allocated for the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer stage II to IV with paclitaxel. >From 1994 to 2001 paclitaxel was used in 23 patients, of which 5 in the first-line therapy and 18 after recurrencies as second-line therapy. In 2002, 42 patients were treated with paclitaxel - 32 in the first-line and 10 in the second-line therapy. Considering the fact that each patient was treated with between 4 to 10 cycles of chemoterapy, it has amounted to a total of more than 650 cycles of chemotherapy. Results. No treatment had a death outcome, only two patients (3%) experienced a serious allergic reaction but were successfully managed and chemotherapy was continued. Conclusion. Our experience confirms that paclitaxel in combination with cisplatin/carboplatin is a very effective drug and our results of chemotherapy do not differ from the results published in the world literature.

Chemotherapy; Ovarian cancer; Paclitaxel

nije evidentirano