Although your friend appears to be having more chemotherapy than you, it is difficult to know whether this means she has a more serious disease. This is because cancer of the ovary can be treated in different ways, and there is more than one chemotherapy drug that is effective.
Towards the end of the 1990s a large research trial, called ICON 3, looked at the use of chemotherapy for women with ovarian cancer. The trial involved over 2000 women from eight countries. The aim of the trial was find out which chemotherapy, or combination of chemotherapy drugs was the best to use first for women with early stage ovarian cancer. The women were split into two groups, and each were given different treatment. The first group were treated with carboplatin on its own or the combination of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and cisplatin, which is also known as CAP, depending on the doctors choice. The second were given carboplatin with Taxol,
The results of the trial became available in 2002 when it was shown that adding Taxol to carboplatin did not improve survival. The combination of carboplatin and Taxol caused more side effects than the other two options. Looking at the trial in more detail it seemed that the women receiving carboplatin on its own were given this in a bigger dose which may have made up for the lack of Taxol. Not all cancer specialists agree that carboplatin on its own is as good as carboplatin and Taxol.
As a result of this trial the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended that women with ovarian cancer should be offered the choice between either a platinum based drug (carboplatin or cisplatin) on its own or in combination with paclitaxel (the other name for Taxol) as first line chemotherapy. The decision should be made after the woman has had chance to discuss the possible risks and potential benefits of the treatment with her specialist. The discussion should also include information about the woman’s stage of disease and how much of the tumour has been removed by surgery.
NICE is part of the NHS and their role is to review information about treatments and medicines and make recommendations on their usage.