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Phase II trial of continuous drug infusions in advanced ovarian carcinoma: Acivicin versus vinblastine

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Summary

Sixty-six women with advanced ovarian carcinoma of coelomic epithelial origin were randomly assigned to one of two intravenous single-agent infusion treatment regimens, either acivicin (60 mg/m2/course, administered as a 72-hr infusion) or vinblastine (7.5 mg/m2/course, administered as a 120-hr infusion) every three weeks. All had progressive disease after one to three prior chemotherapeutic regimens. Of 62 patients who were evaluable for response, survival and toxicity, there was one partial response (2%) produced by vin-blastine. Median survival was 13 weeks on either treatment arm. Three patients (10%) on the acivicin arm experienced life-threatening myelosuppression. Severe toxicities resulting from this treatment included myelosuppression (26%), neurotoxicity (16%), mucositis (3%) and vomiting (6%). Vinblastine was associated with one lethal pneumonia and five cases of life-threatening myelosuppression (16%); severe toxicities included myelosuppression (58%), genitourinary toxicity (6%), infection (3%), and edema (3%). Neither regimen produces useful clinical results in patients who have relapsed after prior chemotherapy for ovarian carcinoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Pharmacology and Efficacy Unit, The Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    Robert H. Earhart

  2. Evanston Hospital, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Janardan D. Khandekar

  3. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    David Faraggi

  4. New York University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Roger A. Schinella

  5. Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Thomas E. Davis

Authors
  1. Robert H. Earhart
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  2. Janardan D. Khandekar
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  3. David Faraggi
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  4. Roger A. Schinella
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  5. Thomas E. Davis
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Additional information

This study was conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (Paul P. Carbone, chairman).

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Earhart, R.H., Khandekar, J.D., Faraggi, D. et al. Phase II trial of continuous drug infusions in advanced ovarian carcinoma: Acivicin versus vinblastine. Invest New Drugs 7, 255–260 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00170870

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