Survival and Side Effects of Cisplatin/Cyclophosphamide and Carboplatin/Paclitaxel Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Stage IC-IV Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Objective: To compare the survival and side effects in epithelial ovarian cancer patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy of cisplatin/ cyclophosphamide and carboplatin/paclitaxel. Method: We recruited epithelial ovarian cancer patients receiving cisplatin/cyclophosphamide (group A) or carboplatin/paclitaxel (group B) adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery. Chemotherapy was given for six cycles. Overall survival and side effects were assessed. Result: A total of 49 patients were recruited, consisting of 25 patients for group A and 24 patients for group B. In this study, the overall survival of stage IC-IV ovarian cancer patients was 37.3 months in group A (95%CI=31.86-43.46) and 35.5 months (95%CI= 13.93- 43.46) in group B (p<0.001). Hematologic side effects of both groups were not significantly different, i.e: leukopenia 12% vs 18% (p=0.14) and thrombocytopenia 5.3% vs 9.7% (p=0.38) in group A and group B, respectively. Gastrointestinal toxicity occurred more frequently in group A, i.e: nausea 38.6% vs 22.9% (p<0.05), vomitus 24.6% vs 11.8% (p<0.05) in group A and group B, respectively. Symptoms of peripheral sensory neuropathy were found in 5.33% of group A subjects and 23.6% of group B (p<0.05). Conclusion: Overall survival in this study is better in patients receiving cisplatin/cyclophosphamide than patients receiving carboplatin/ paclitaxel. However, further study with larger sample is still needed. The gastrointestinal side effects are found more frequently in the cisplatin/cyclophosphamide group, while peripheral sensory neuropathy and hematologic side effects are more frequent in the carboplatin/paclitaxel group. Keywords: carboplatin/paclitaxel, cisplatin/cyclophosphamide, ovarian cancer, overall survival, side effects