Phase II trial of carboplatin in patients with advanced germ-cell testicular tumors and transitional cell carcinomas of the urinary tract

Summary

Carboplatin, an analog of cisplatin, was evaluated in a phase II study involving 25 patients with advanced testicular tumor and 45 with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary tract; 21 and 38 cases, respectively, were evaluable for response. Prior treatment with cisplatin-based chemotherapy had occurred in 7 of the testicular cancer patients and in 11 with TCC. The response rate (complete + partial response) in testicular tumors was 47.6%. The best response rate was observed in seminomas (70.0%), whereas the response rate in nonseminomas was 27.3%. The seminoma patients had mainly stage IIIA or less than IIA disease, with metastatic lesions restricted to the lymph nodes. Three responses were seen in patients previously treated with cisplatin. In TCC, the response rate was 18.4%. Good-risk patients were treated with a dose of 400 mg/m² every 4 weeks, whereas poor-risk patients received a lower dose of 300 mg/m². The response rates for good-risk patients were 50.0% in testicular lesions and 26.1% in TCC. For poor-risk patients, the response rates were 40.0% and 6.7%, respectively. Carboplatin was well tolerated, with no significant renal impairment or ototoxicity detected. Nausea and vomiting were experienced by 51.7% of patients, but the severity was low; half of these patients demonstrated WHO grade I toxicity. However, myelosuppression was severe. In conclusion, carboplatin demonstrated activity in both testicular tumors and TCC and is worthy of further study, especially in combination with other active drugs.