Evaluation of the feasibility of using weekly paclitaxel as neoadjuvant therapy in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer; a pre-post clinical trial

Introduction: Although weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin regimen is as effective as the standard method for treatment of advanced ovarian cancer, it has less frequently been used as neoadjuvant therapy. Objectives: To reduce the side effects of typical every three-week chemotherapy and increase progression-free survival (PFS) rate, this study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using weekly paclitaxel as neoadjuvant therapy in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Patients and Methods: This pre-post clinical trial was conducted on 14 patients with stage IIIC (8 patients) and IV (6 patients) advanced ovarian carcinoma. All the patients received the three courses of treatment and then underwent interval debulking surgery. After the surgery, patients received three or five courses based on their stages. Every neoadjuvant chemotherapy course consisted of weekly paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) and carboplatin (AUC=6) every 3 weeks. After every 21 days of treatment course, the patients were evaluated to investigate their response to treatment and side effects. Patients were followed up for at least 6 months. Results: The mean (SD) age of the patients was 64 +/- 8 years. After three courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, one patient (7%) had a complete response and 13 patients (93%) had a partial response. During the treatment period, two patients (14%) developed anemia, one patient (7%) developed neutropenia, two patients (14%) developed thrombocytopenia, and six patients (43%) developed neuropathy. The median (interquartile range) of PFS was 13 months (9.5-16.25). Conclusion: The findings showed that a weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin regimen as neoadjuvant therapy could be effective in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. However, it is necessary to conduct multicenter studies with larger sample sizes.