Ifosfamide and mesna at high doses for the treatment of cancer of the cervix: a GETLAC study

Summary

This study was carried out to assess the efficacy of high-dose ifosfamide/mesna (HDIFM) in the treatment of advanced or recurrent cancer of the cervix. In all, 18/21 evaluable patients with advanced or inoperable cervical cancer were included. The mean age was 42 years (range, 31–58 years); and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage was III in 10 patients and IV in 11. The Karnofsky performance status ranged between 70 and 90, with a median of 77. Ten patients had previously been treated with surgery, radium and cobalt (8) or cobalt alone (2). Therapy consisted of 3.5 g/m², ifosfamide (IFO) given in an 8-h i.v. infusion on days 1–5 and mesna at 20% of the IFO dose, given i.v. at 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 h, followed by mesna at 40% of the IFO dose by the oral route at 10 and 12 h on days 1–5. For evaluation purposes, patients received at least two cycles. Toxicity was registered in 137 cycles and was mild to moderate. Three complete (16.6%) and six partial (33.3%) responses were observed (50%), but 66% of them occurred in areas that had not previously been irradiated. The median duration of response was 14 months and the overall median survival was 15+ months (18+ months for responders). The Karnofsky scale after treatment ranged from 90 to 100. The results of this study indicate that HDIFM is well tolerated, giving a high percentage of remission (50%) and significantly improving the quality of life.