Efficacy of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin maintenance therapy in platinum-sensitive recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer: a retrospective study

Objective To examine the effectiveness of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) maintenance therapy (intravenous administration at dose 40 mg/m(2) on day 1, repeated every 4 weeks) after first-line salvage chemotherapy for platinum-sensitive recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods This retrospective cohort study examined women with a first recurrence of platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian cancer diagnosed between 2005 and 2015. Eligible cases had PLD maintenance following the first-line salvage chemotherapy (n = 28). Outcomes of interest included adverse events related to PLD maintenance therapy and survival outcome after the first recurrence. Results The median number of PLD maintenance cycles was 7.5 (range 2-26), and 11 (40%) women received >= 12 cycles. The median cumulative dose of PLD was 432.5 mg/m(2) (range 120-1200 mg/m(2)). No women developed cardiotoxicity or secondary malignancies. There were 16 (57%) women who developed any grade of adverse events, including 3 (11%) women who developed grade 3 adverse events. There were no grade 4 adverse events. The most common adverse event was mucositis (n = 7, 25%). Dose reduction due to adverse events occurred in 14 (50%) women including 3 (11%) women with discontinuation due to toxicity. Median progression-free survival and overall survival after the initiation of PLD maintenance was 14.5 months (2-year rate 21.1%) and 51.2 months (5-year rate 43.4%), respectively. Conclusion Our study suggests that PLD maintenance therapy for platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer is relatively well tolerated with the use of dose reduction to manage toxicity. Our study suggests that PLD maintenance therapy may be effective for women with platinum-sensitive recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer.