Oral altretamine used as salvage therapy in recurrent ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND: Altretamine has reported efficacy in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer following platinum-based therapy. This report presents the cases of two long-term survivors with recurrent ovarian cancer given oral altretamine. CASES: Two patients diagnosed with stage IIIC ovarian cancer underwent optimal cytoreductive surgery. Both women were subsequently treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. One had persistent cancer documented 2 months post therapy, while the other was disease-free for 22 months before recurring. Both received altretamine in a salvage setting. Each of these women achieved a prolonged response to third-line altretamine therapy, and one of whom was disease-free for 4 years and the other remains disease-free over 7 years following initiation of salvage therapy. CONCLUSION: Outpatient-administered oral altretamine can provide a prolonged disease-free interval with minimal toxicity.