[Evaluation of the efficacy of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in epithelial ovarian cancer; comparison with treatments employed before the cisplatin era].

Seventy-five patients with epithelial ovarian cancers received cisplatin-based chemotherapy as a post-surgical treatment in the 1980s. In the 1970s, fifty-eight patients received various treatments without cisplatin, which included radiotherapy, chemotherapy and their combination. In the patients with stage III disease, cisplatin-based chemotherapy achieved a median survival of 24 months, whereas other treatments employed in the 1970s achieved a median survival of 8 months. In the patients with early disease, however, cisplatin-based chemotherapy did not improve the survival. Since it is clear that cisplatin-based chemotherapy achieved an improved survival in the treatment of advanced epithelial ovarian cancer, it is concluded that this therapy is worth continuing until a more effective treatment is available.