Treatment of poor-prognosis sex cord-stromal tumors of the ovary with the combination of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical activity of the combination of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin for metastatic ovarian sex cord-stromal tumors of all types and poorly differentiated Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors confined to the ovary.
METHODS: The regimen was administered as follows: bleomycin 10-15 mg/day by continuous intravenous (IV) infusion on days 1-3; etoposide 100 mg/m2 IV per day on days 1-3; cisplatin 100 mg/m2 IV on day 1. End points for analysis included response, progression-free survival, and survival.
RESULTS: Nine patients were entered in this trial. The median age was 37 years (range 12-69). Histologic types included adult granulosa cell tumor in five patients, juvenile granulosa cell tumor in one, poorly differentiated Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor in two, and mixed tumor in one. Stage distribution was as follows: stage Ia, two; stage IIc, one; stage IIIc, one; recurrent, five. Of the six patients with measurable disease, two (33%) had a complete response (one surgical and one clinical), and three (50%) had a partial response, for an overall response rate of 83%; one patient had no response. Toxicity was acceptable; two patients had mild bleomycin pulmonary toxicity. Of the three patients with nonmeasurable disease, one relapsed, one developed progressive disease, and one remains in remission. Of the seven patients with metastatic disease, only one (14%) had a durable remission. Median progression-free survival was 14 months. Median survival time was 28 months. At the time of analysis, two patients were alive disease-free, three were alive with disease, and four were dead of disease.
CONCLUSION: Although the overall response rate to the combination of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin was high, the regimen apparently lacks durable activity in this group of tumors. More active drugs and modalities should continue to be investigated.