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Toxicity of intraperitoneal chemotherapy may be related to age in women treated for optimally debulked ovarian cancer
The Don and Sybil Harrington Cancer Center/Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Amarillo, TX
Intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy can improve outcome in selected ovarian cancer patients but may be tolerated less well than intravenous (IV) therapy. This study retrospectively examined differences in toxicity associated with combined IV/IP versus IV-only chemotherapy in 77 women with stage III ovarian cancer receiving treatment at our institution between 2000 and 2003. Altogether, 24 patients received IP chemotherapy and 53 received IV chemotherapy. The two groups of patients were comparable in age and ethnicity. The mean age of IP-treated patients experiencing grade 4 toxicity was 71.0 years, compared with 57.7 years among IV-treated patients (P = 0.028). Three treatment-related deaths occurred, all in IP-treated patients over age 70. Patients were more likely to complete 6 courses of IV chemotherapy (83.0%) than IP therapy (58.3%; P = 0.041). We conclude that serious toxicity is more frequent with IP versus IV chemotherapy and is most evident among older women. Age should be considered when deciding between IP versus IV chemotherapy in this clinical setting.
| Commun Oncol 2005;2:271–275 | full text |  132 kb |