Phase II trial of 3-h infusion of paclitaxel in patients with adenocarcinoma of endometrium: Japanese Multicenter Study Group.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the antineoplastic effect and adverse reactions of paclitaxel monotherapy with paclitaxel 210 mg/m(2) given every 3 weeks by 3-h infusion on patients with endometrial cancer given as a 3-h infusion.
METHODS: This study was a multi-center, open-label phase II clinical trial of paclitaxel 210 mg/m(2) given every 3 weeks by 3-h infusion. Patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer were enrolled. The primary endpoint for efficacy was tumor response rate. The secondary endpoints were duration of response and adverse drug reactions.
RESULTS: Among 23 patients evaluated for efficacy, partial remission (PR) was achieved in 7, no change (NC) in 10, progressive disease (PD) in 5, and not estimable (NE) in 1. The overall response rate was 30.4% (7/23 cases). In seven PR cases, median duration of response was 130 days (100-245 days). Subjective or objective symptoms > or =grade 3 included febrile neutropenia and constipation in 8.7% (2/23 cases) each; and nausea, vomiting, fatigue, pain, urinary tract infection, lowered oxygen saturation, anorexia, arthralgia, myalgia, neuropathy, weight loss, dyspnea, and need for red cell transfusion in 4.3% (1/23) each. Laboratory test abnormalities > or =grade 3 included neutropenia (78.3%, 18/23), leucopenia (47.8%, 11/23), lowered hemoglobin (13.0%, 3/23), decreased potassium (8.7%, 2/23), and decreased sodium (4.3%, 1/23). All adverse reactions were successfully managed by prolonging treatment interval, dose reduction, interrupting administration, discontinuation, and administration of G-CSF.
CONCLUSION: Three-hour intravenous infusion of paclitaxel 210 mg/m(2) is useful for endometrial cancer. Antineoplastic effect was achieved and adverse reactions were clinically manageable.