Single-Agent Gemcitabine in Heavily Pretreated Ovarian Cancer: Experience from a Canadian Tertiary Centre
There is limited real word data regarding the utilization of gemcitabine as a single agent in ovarian cancer (OC). We aimed to study the outcomes of treating recurrent OC with single-agent gemcitabine. We conducted a retrospective study, including patients with recurrent OC who were treated with single-agent gemcitabine. Patients who received gemcitabine in combination with other agents were excluded. Our primary outcome was the overall survival (OS) of patients treated with single-agent gemcitabine. Overall, 18 patients were included. The median age of patients was 59 years (IQR 49-63). Most patients (67%) had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 1. The median number of lines of treatments prior to gemcitabine was 4 (IQR 3-5). The median duration on gemcitabine was 2 months (IQR 1-4), and the median OS was 4 months (95% CI 1-6). One patient had a reaction to treatment after the first infusion and treatment was discontinued. Four patients (22%) had at least 1 additional line of treatment following gemcitabine. During gemcitabine treatment, 67% of patients were admitted, and 61% of patients died within 30 days of treatment. Single-agent gemcitabine in heavily pretreated recurrent OC is associated with a median OS of 4 months, and some patients even benefit from further lines of treatment.