Patients diagnosed with recurrent cervical cancer generally have limited options for cure. Occasionally, radiation therapy may be utilized in localized recurrent disease with curative intent; however, most patients are not candidates for curative therapy secondary to disseminated disease, and thus are frequently treated with palliative chemotherapy. Initial experiences with chemotherapy in this clinical setting demonstrated cisplatin to be an active agent. Subsequent trials using combinations of cisplatin and ifosfamide or paclitaxel demonstrated higher response rates compared to cisplatin alone but did not demonstrate an improvement in overall survival. Topotecan is a topoisomerase I inhibitor that has been used in the management of cervical and ovarian cancer. Several phase II studies have demonstrated topotecan to be an active agent in cervical cancer. In an effort to ameliorate toxicity noted with 3-5 day dosing regimens of topotecan, investigators have evaluated weekly dosing of topotecan. Thus far, the toxicity of weekly topotecan dosing in cervical cancer has not been evaluated. In this study, topotecan will be given weekly at escalating dose levels starting at 2.0 mb/m2 with standard cisplatin at 50 mg/m2 every 21 days. This study will help to determine acceptable dosing for the combination of weekly topotecan and cisplatin in patients with persistent, recurrent, or advanced stage cervical cancer which can then be utilized in a cohort of patients with cervical cancer in a phase II study.
The purpose of this study is to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of topotecan when given weekly with cisplatin in patients with persistent, recurrent, or advanced stage cervical cancer. Secondary purposes are to describe the toxicity profile in patients with persistent, recurrent, or advanced stage cervical cancer treated with the combination of topotecan when given weekly with cisplatin and to determine the response rate and time to progression in patients with persistent, recurrent, or advanced stage cervical cancer treated with the combination of topotecan when given weekly with cisplatin.