| Abstract: |
Despite the demonstrated activity of intraperitoneal mitoxantrone in patients with small volume-platinum-refractory ovarian cancer, previous reports have revealed that many patients fail to achieve adequate distribution of the cytotoxic drug throughout the peritoneal cavity when delivered in a ‘standard’ 2-liter treatment volume. In an effort to improve the distribution and therapeutic efficacy of intraperitoneal mitoxantrone, 22 patients with platinum-refractory ovarian cancer were treated with the drug at a dose of 10 mg/m2 given in 2 liters of normal saline followed by an additional 1-2 liters every 2 weeks for eight cycles. The surgically defined complete response rate in 17 patients evaluable for response with platinum- refractory ovarian cancer was 24%, with an overall response rate of 29%. Of 18 in which the influence of treatment volume could be examined (4 patients developed catheter failure), 12 (67%) were able to tolerate a 4-liter treatment volume for >80% of courses, with a total of 15 patients (83%) receiving treatment with a minimum of a 3-liter treatment volume. We conclude that it is possible to safely increase the intraperitoneal treatment volume to 3-4 liters in most patients undergoing this therapeutic strategy. While the impact on therapeutic efficacy of expanding the volume employed for cytotoxic drug delivery remains to be defined, in theory this approach may optimize the opportunity for agents achieving high-intraperitoneal concentrations to produce their maximal cytotoxic effect. © 1993 Academic Press, Inc. |
