Table 2. Efficacy and safety of docetaxel (D) 60–75 mg m⁻² plus carboplatin (C) AUC 5–6 every 3 weeks in women with recurrent or progressive ovarian cancer (OC): results from four Phase II studies (Meyer et al, 1999; Kolevska et al, 2001; Markman et al, 2001; Vorobiof et al, 2001).

		No. of patients evaluable for		Patient characteristics at presentation	Response rate (% of evaluable patients)			Length of follow-up, median [range]	Progression-free survival, median [range]	Toxicity (no. of patients)
Reference	Regimen	Safety	Efficacy		CR	PR	Overall
Markman et al (2001)	D 60 mg m−2+C AUC 6 every 21 days for 6 cycles	50	42	Chemotherapy-naïve (94%) and platinum-pretreated (6%) patients with OC (12% stage I–II; 88% stage III–IV)	NS	NS	81	21+ months [12+ to 41+]	>16 months	Grade IV neutropenia (32); neutropenic fever (8); grade III thrombocytopenia (2); hypersensitivity (17); peripheral neuropathy (3)
Kolevska et al (2001)	D 70 mg m−2+C AUC 6 every 21 days for 6 cycles	19	15	Chemotherapy-naïve patients with suboptimally debulked stage IIIc (63%) or IV (37%) OC	27	53	87a	8.9 months [0.6–26.4]	13.1 months	Grade III/IV toxicities:b neutropenia (15); febrile neutropenia (2); nausea (2); vomiting (1); anaemia (2); thrombocytopenia (3) oedema (1); weight loss (1); dehydration (1); DVT (3); diarrhoea (2)
Meyer et al (1999)	D 75 mg m−2+C AUC 5every 21 days for 6 cycles	27	27	Chemotherapy-naïve (41%) and platinum-pretreated (59%) patients with stage III–IV OC	52	29	81	NS	NS	Neutropenia (grade II/III, 24); thrombocytopenia (grade II/III, 7); neuropathy (grade II, 2)
Vorobiof et al (2001)	D 75 mg m−2+C AUC 6every 21 days for 6 cycles	20	11c	Chemotherapy-naïve patients with stage III–IV OC	46	36	82	NS	NS	Grade III–IV toxicities included anaemia, leucopenia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, nausea and vomiting

^aIncludes one minor response.

^bData presented as number of episodes.

^cIncludes patients with measurable disease and excludes those only evaluable for CA125 response.