A PHASE-II STUDY OF HIGH-DOSE CISPLATIN, VINBLASTINE, BLEOMYCIN, AND ETOPOSIDE (PVEBV REGIMEN) IN MALIGNANT NONDYSGERMINOMATOUS GERM-CELL TUMORS OF THE OVARY

Fourteen patients with malignant nondysgerminomatous germ-cell tumors of the ovary were treated with a combination of high-dose cisplatin, vinblastine, bleomycin, and etoposide (PVeBV regimen). Nine patients received PVeBV as primary postoperative therapy, of whom four had no residual disease. Four patients received PVeBV for recurrent disease. One patient underwent PVeBV therapy as second-line treatment. Three patients with initial poor prognostic features were treated with early high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow rescue as consolidation therapy after two cycles of PVeBV. Ten of 14 patients (71%) are progression-free with a median follow-up of 6 years. Equal efficacy and less toxicity favor the combination of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) as standard treatment of ovarian germ-cell tumors in the 1990s. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.