Efficacy of cisplatin combined with vinorelbine as second- or higher-line palliative chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer

The aim of this study was to assess the therapeutic efficacy of a cisplatin and vinorelbine combination as second- or higher-line palliative chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with advanced ovarian cancer who were treated with cisplatin (60 mg/m(2) on day 1) and vinorelbine (25 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8) every 3 weeks between January 2004 and March 2021. Treatment responses, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were assessed; laboratory data were reviewed to determine toxicity. Thirty-two patients with advanced ovarian cancer were treated with a combination of vinorelbine and cisplatin. The objective response rate (ORR) was 18.8% and the disease control rate was 75.1%. The median PFS was 4.13 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.4–5.8 months). The median OS was 56.9 months (95% CI, 50.5–63.7 months). The ORR (42.9% vs 9.1%; P = .035) was higher in the platinum-sensitive group than in the platinum-resistant group. The median PFS tended to be longer in the platinum-sensitive group (5.3 vs 3.8 months; P = .339) and the median OS was significantly longer in the platinum-sensitive group than in the platinum-resistant group (69.6 vs 24 months; P < .001). All patients developed hematological toxicities, with 56% experiencing grade 3 to 4 neutropenia. Two (6.2%) patients developed febrile neutropenia, but no treatment-related death occurred. This combination therapy may be effective in patients with heavily treated advanced ovarian cancer, particularly in platinum-sensitive patients.