Description
All patients with suspected ovarian cancer (Raised CA 125 and a complex pelvic mass in a perimenopausal woman) were radiologically staged using CT scan and a chest x-ray. Patients with evidence of intra-abdominal metastasis and/or malignant pleural effusion were approached for entry to the study. Tissue biopsy was obtained either under radiological control (core needle biopsy) or via laparoscopic surgery (punch biopsy). Patients with histologicaly confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer were randomized to receive either three cycles of carboplatin (AUC 7) or paclitaxel (175 mg/m2).