Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the response rate and response duration of cervical cancer previously treated by cisplatin (with or without radiation) to a combination of docetaxel and gemcitabine. Secondary endpoints were assessment of toxicity and quality of life (QoL) of patients receiving the treatment.
Methods: This was a multicentre phase II trial of 3 weekly docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) day 1 (reduced to 60 mg/m(2) after 32 cycles had been administered) and gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) (days 1 and 8). A two stage Gehan design was used initially. Twenty-nine patients recruited had disease outside the irradiated pelvis (Group 1), and 21 had disease confined to the irradiated pelvis (Group 2). The target response for the Gehan 2 design was 25% (Group 1) and 10% (Group 2).
Results: The overall response rate for Group 1 was 21.4% (95% CI 8.3-41.0%). Amongst those who had at least 3 cycles of chemotherapy the response rate was 27.3% (95% CI 10.7-50.2%). The median survival was 7.3 months (95% CI 5.4 to 9.2 months) with 39.3% (95% CI 21.7-56.5%) alive at 1 year. In Group 2 the overall response rate was 9.5% (95% CI 1.2%-30.4%). The response rate for those who had at least 3 cycles of chemotherapy was 12.5% (95% CI 1.6-38.4%). The median survival was 7.9 months (95% CI 2.2-13.6 months). Toxicity was mainly haematological with 51% developing grade 3 or 4 neutropenia after at least 1 cycle of chemotherapy. QoL showed a significant deterioration from baseline for physical and role function but there was an improvement in emotional function during treatment.
Conclusion: Response rates and survival duration were similar to those reported following treatment with platinum based doublets. In view of the relatively poor response rates (no more than 36%) to conventional chemotherapy future developments should be a combination of chemotherapy and biological agents such as VEGFR inhibitors.
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.