Phase II study of esorubicin (4'deoxydoxorubicin) in anthracycline naive patients with ovarian cancer.

Sixteen patients with metastatic ovarian cancer who had not previously been treated with anthracyclines were treated with 4'deoxydoxorubicin at a dose of 30 mg/m2 intravenously every 3 weeks. There were no clinical responses in this group of patients. Toxicities were infrequent with neutropenia and thrombocytopenia being dose limiting. Nausea and vomiting occurred in only 4 patients. We conclude that 4'deoxydoxorubicin is an inactive drug in this patient population and does not warrant further investigation in this disease.