Second-Line Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Recurrent Epithelial Ovarian, Tubal and Peritoneal Cancer: A Propensity Score-Matching Study

Background: The superiority of frontline intraperitoneal (IP) over intravenous (IV) chemotherapy is well established in the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer. However, the role of IP chemotherapy in the second-line setting has rarely been investigated. Methods: Consecutive patients diagnosed with recurrent epithelial, tubal and peritoneal cancers between January 2000 and December 2012 were recruited using a propensity score-matching technique to adjust relevant risk factors. Results: In total, 310 patients were included in the final analysis (94 for platinum-refractory/resistant disease and 216 for platinum-sensitive disease). IP chemotherapy demonstrated significantly longer median progression-free survival than IV chemotherapy (4.9 vs. 2.4 months, p < 0.001, for platinum-refractory/resistant disease, and 9.8 vs. 6.9 months, p < 0.001, for platinum-sensitive disease). Conclusions: Second-line IP chemotherapy confers longer progression-free survival than IV chemotherapy. Large-scale clinical trials should be conducted to validate the true efficacy. (C) 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel