Six versus nine cycles of paclitaxel-carboplatin as first-line chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed epithelial advanced ovarian cancer

e16535 Background: A multimodality approach with cytoreductive surgery and six courses of paclitaxel-platinum-based chemotherapy is actually the mainstay of treatment of Advanced Ovarian Cancer (AOC). This study was performed to determine retrospectively the efficacy of three additional cycles of paclitaxel-carboplatin (PC) in patients with AOC who had previously demonstrated chemosensitivity to six courses of this regimen. Methods: From January 2000 to August 2008, 125 epithelial AOC (FIGO stages IIIC and IV) were diagnosed in a single institution. After a cytoreductive surgery, 51 patients received six cycles of PC (PC 6 group), 57 received 9 (PC 9 group), and 17 experienced progressive disease during treatment. The chemotherapeutic regimen consisted of intravenous paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 for a 3-hour infusion period and intravenous carboplatin AUC 5 every 3 weeks. Results: Median age was 62 years in PC6 group and 59.7 years in PC9. According to the FIGO criteria, 72.6% patients were in stage IIIC in group...