Second-line chemotherapy for advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma previously treated with paclitaxel and carboplatin, with or without epirubicin

Purpose A combined chemotherapy of taxane and platinum, with or without anthracycline, has been used as a standard first-line regimen. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of second-line chemotherapy for treatment of advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma previously treated with a combined chemotherapy of taxane and platinum, with or without anthracycline. Methods During the 2000–2008 study period, 723 patients were diagnosed with endometrial cancer at the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Osaka University and the Osaka Rosai Hospitals, Osaka, Japan. The subset of these cases that eventually required treatment by second-line chemotherapy was retrospectively analyzed. Results Response rate to second-line chemotherapy was 25%. Treatment-free interval (TFI) of ≥ or