Summary
Forty-four patients with advanced, measurable, epithelial carcinoma of the ovary were treated with 97 courses of N-methylformamide (N-MF) at doses ranging from 600–800 mg/m2, intravenously, daily for 5 days every 28 days. Forty-one patients had prior surgery and had received one prior chemotherapy regimen. Only seven patients had received any prior radiation therapy. All patients were Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) performance status 0, 1, or 2. Three partial responses were seen. Hematologic adverse effects were extremely rare as predicted by early clinical trials. One major toxicity was a syndrome consisting of some combination of myalgias, arthralgias, pleuritic pain, abdominal pain, peripheral neuropathy, anorexia, lethargy, and declining performance status (painlethargy syndrome) that was reversible with discontinuation of the drug. This adverse effect was as common a reason as hepatic toxicity for discontinuation of N-MF. As reported in previous studies with this drug, hepatic toxicity was also common, usually reversible, and also a cause for discontinuation of the drug. The low level of clinical activity and the unpleasant adverse effects in this population of patients with previously treated ovarian cancer makes it unlikely that this drug will play any significant role in treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer.
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The following are participating institutions and the National Cancer Institute grants supporting this study: Temple University Health Science Center Hospital (CA 27816), University of Minnesota Medical School (CA 23088), University of California Medical Center at Los Angeles (CA 13630), The Milton S. Hershey School of Medicine of Pennsylvania State University (CA 16386), University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas (CA 28160), Indiana University Medical Center (CA 21720), Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University (CA 21946), State University of New York at Syracuse*, University of California Medical Center at Irvine (CA 23765), Tufts New England Medical Center (CA 37569), Illinois Cancer Council (CA 27806), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, St. Louis University Medical Center (CA 35571), Stanford University Medical Center* and Pennsylvania Hospital.
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Address for offprints: GOG Headquarters, Suite 1945, 1234 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
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McGuire, W.P., Blessing, J.A., Berek, J.S. et al. Phase II study of N-methylformamide (N-MF) (NSC 3051) in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. Invest New Drugs 8, 191–194 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00177257
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00177257