Three Weeks Carboplatin/Paclitaxel versus Weekly Regimen in Egyptian Women Cohort Treated for Ovarian Carcinoma

Introduction: Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma (EOC) comprises the vast majority (almost 90%) of ovarian carcinomas. Chemotherapy is the main treatment in ovarian cancers. The standard of care in the chemotherapeutic is the combination of a platinum (carboplatin or cisplatin) and a taxane (paclitaxel or docetaxel). Studies were done to determine whether this combination to be given weekly or every 3 weeks. Patient and Method: Inclusion criteria: 1) Female patients between the ages of 17 - 78 years. 2) Baseline hematological, renal and liver laboratory profiles were within accepted ranges. 3) Performance status of the patients was 0-II. 4) Patients were pathologically proven ovarian cancer. 5) A follow-up period for at least 6 months was required. Exclusion criteria: 1) Patients who had double malignancy were excluded. 2) Performance status more than II. 3) Other comorbidity. Results: We reviewed 69 female patients with EOC, with 60% received every three weeks regimen. Mean age was 53.22 years. At a median follow up of 45.9 months, there was no significant different between the two protocols in terms of mean PFS, 62.35 months (95% CI: 50.08 - 74.63 months) for the three-weekly cohort, and 69.25 months (95% CI: 55.24 - 83.26 months) for weekly protocol (p = 0.613). The three weekly regimen patients had a higher incidence of hospital admission (40% vs 18.5% for the weekly protocol patients), but it didn’t reach a statistical significance (p = 0.063). The three weekly protocol had a significantly higher incidence of causing a neutropenic fever (p = 0.003). Conclusion: In our cohort of Egyptian women with EOC, no significant difference in PFS was found when compared the weekly Carboplatin/paclitaxel when compared to the classic three weeks, although the weekly protocol may be causing less febrile neutropenia and fewer hospital admissions.