A Phase II Study of Docetaxel in Patients with Relapsed and Refractory Ewing's Tumours

[摘要] Purpose. The prognosis for patients with Ewing's tumours who have metastases at presentation or who are refractory to standard chemotherapy regimens remains poor. There is therefore a need to evaluate the role of new agents. This reportdescribes the initial results of a prospective phase II trial of docetaxel in patients with progressive or refractory Ewing's tumours.Patients and methods. Fourteen patients with Ewing's tumours who had all relapsed or progressed after treatment withmulti-drug cytotoxic therapy were treated with docetaxel 100 mg/m2infused over 1 h, three weekly for a maximum of six cycles.Nine patients received granulocyte colony-stimulating factor with all cycles.Results. A partial response was observed in one patient and stable disease in two. The remaining patients progressed ontreatment. The major toxicity was myelosuppression and infection with 36% patients experiencing grade 3 or 4 neutropeniaand/or infection.Conclusion. Docetaxel appears to have some activity in Ewing's tumours even in heavily pre-treated patients. Further evaluationof its efficacy at an earlier stage of the disease is warranted.

[学科分类] 肿瘤学