Does adding intraperitoneal paclitaxel to standard intraperitoneal regimen yield incremental survival? A propensity score-matched cohort study

We recruited consecutive patients with stage III epithelial ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal cancers who had optimal residual tumor after primary cytoreductive surgery and who received intraperitoneal chemotherapy between 2002 and 2012. Two propensity score-matched sample cohorts were created. We found that the addition of paclitaxel as a second intraperitoneal agent on a 3-week dosing schedule did not yield significant incremental survival benefits over the intraperitoneal delivery of a single cisplatin-based regimen. If our findings could be confirmed by a prospective randomized study, then it would be interesting to explore the efficacy of shifting back to a dose-dense intraperitoneal delivery of paclitaxel or a dose-dense delivery of a new formulation of paclitaxel for the patients with stage III epithelial ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal cancers.