PEBA regimen (cisplatin, etoposide, bleomycin, and adriamycin) in the treatment of drug-resistant choriocarcinoma.

Twenty-six drug-resistant choriocarcinoma patients were treated with a PEBA regimen (cisplatin, etoposide, bleomycin, and adriamycin), supplemented by radiotherapy or surgery, from January 1988 to June 1992. A total of 80.8% of the patients had received at least four drugs, and 69.2% had received six or more cycles of combination chemotherapy. All of the patients were primarily treated with PEBA chemotherapy, 5 patients underwent hysterectomy, 9 patients received local lung and/or pelvis cobalt-60 irradiation, and 2 patients with brain metastases received whole brain irradiation. Twenty-five patients achieved a complete remission (CR 96.2%), but 7 patients relapsed. One patient with a relapse reentered sustained CR through surgery and further chemotherapy. Another patient who relapsed lives with tumor after local lung irradiation and chemotherapy. Nineteen patients (73.1%) were in sustained CR lasting at least 1 year. The side effects of the PEBA regimen were moderate and tolerable. We think that PEBA is an optimal regimen for the treatment of drug-resistant choriocarcinoma.