Chemotherapy With or Without Peripheral Stem Cell Transplantation in Treating Patients With Persistent Ovarian Epithelial Cancer

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare progression-free and overall survival of patients with drug-sensitive, low-volume ovarian cancer that is persistent following standard therapy treated with salvage therapy comprising standard-dose paclitaxel and carboplatin vs high-dose carboplatin, mitoxantrone, and cyclophosphamide followed by bone marrow reconstitution. II. Compare the toxic effects of these two salvage regimens. III. Compare selected health-related aspects of quality of life in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified by participating center and disease state at reassessment laparotomy. Patients are randomized to one of two treatment arms. Arm I: Patients receive paclitaxel IV over 3 hours on day 1 and carboplatin IV continuously on days 1-5 every 3 weeks for a total of 6 courses. Arm II: Patients receive cyclophosphamide IV over 1 hour and mitoxantrone IV over 15 minutes on days -8, -6, and -4, and carboplatin IV continuously on days -8 through -4, followed by rescue with autologous bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells on day 0. Quality of life is assessed at baseline, at 3 and 9 weeks after starting treatment, and every 3 months for an additional 5 assessments regardless of disease progression.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 275 patients will be accrued over approximately 60 months.