Emergency Etoposide-Cisplatin (Em-EP) for patients with germ cell tumours (GCT) and trophoblastic neoplasia (TN)

BACKGROUND: Etoposide (E) at 100 mg/m(2) combined with Cisplatin (P) at 20 mg/m(2) represents an induction 2-day regimen embedded in our clinical practice for patients with advanced GCT or TN at high risk of early death. We evaluated 24/7 Em-EP administration to a combined GCT-TN cohort at our Emergency Cancer Treatment Centre (ECTC) to determine its efficacy within the acute setting. METHODS: Patients who received Em-EP during a five-year interval were identified from electronic databases at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Data collected included demographics, treatment details and clinical outcome. RESULTS: Em-EP was administered in the emergency setting to 104 patients, predominantly young adults (median age 35, range 17–71). Half the cases were GCT (n = 52): 22 male (6 seminomas, 13 non-seminomas); 30 female (2 dysgerminomas, 28 non-dysgerminomas). The other 50% were treated for TN (n = 52): 45 gestational (GTN) and 7 non-gestational. Most patients received Em-EP for a new cancer diagnosis (n = 100, 96%), within 24 h (n = 93, 89%) and out-of-hours (n = 74, 70%). Indications for Em-EP included symptomatic disease (n = 66, 63%), high-burden disease, (n = 51, 49%) and organ failure requiring Intensive Care Unit support (n = 9, 9%). Neutropenic sepsis was observed in 5%. Four-week overall survival after Em-EP administration was 98%. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the potentially fatal complications encountered in the acute setting, early mortality with Em-EP is low at our ECTC. Specialist units that treat unwell patients with advanced GCT or TN should consider making Em-EP available 24/7 for emergency administration. Its efficacy within a prospective cohort and in other platinum-sensitive malignancies requires evaluation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-019-5968-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.