Carboplatin and paclitaxel versus cisplatin, paclitaxel and doxorubicin for frontline chemotherapy of advanced ovarian carcinoma (AOC): A Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group Study

5074 Background: Carboplatin combined with paclitaxel are considered treatment of choice as initial chemotherapy for AOC. We compared this combination with a regimen combining cisplatin plus paclitaxel and doxorubicin. In the pre-taxane era the addition of doxorubicin to the cisplatin-based regimens appeared to improve survival. Therefore, there was a significant interest in assessing the role of a taxane/platinum/ anthracycline combination therapy in a randomized study. Methods: Patients with AOC after the initial cytoreductive surgery were stratified according to the FIGO stage and the presence of residual disease and randomized to either 6 courses of paclitaxel 175 mg/m 2 as 3h infusion plus carboplatin 7AUC (group A) or paclitaxel at the same dose plus cisplatin 75 mg/m 2 plus doxorubicin 40 mg/m 2 and G-CSF (Lenograsim) 0.263 mg sc from day 7 to day 11 (group B). Primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). At alpha = 5%, 400 patients were required, to detect with power of 80%, a ±15% difference to a baseline survival rate of 50% at the 3-year time point. Results: Intent to treat analysis was performed on 432 patients (group A: 210, B: 222). The treatment groups were well balanced in terms of major patient and tumor characteristics. 70% of the patients had stage III and 23% stage IV disease. Significantly more patients developed febrile neutropenia in group B (p = 0.01). No other significant differences were observed in terms of severe toxicity and no difference was found between the two groups in complete and overall response rate. With a median follow up of 44 months, median survival was 37.2 months in group A and 45.2 months in group B (p = 0.33). Conclusions: Both regimens are well tolerated and effective as first line chemotherapy of AOC. Combination of cisplatin, paclitaxel and doxorubicin does not seem to improve survival as compared with the standard carboplatin/paclitaxel regimen. No significant financial relationships to disclose.