Desensitization therapy for overcoming hypersensitivity reactions in ovarian cancer: a prospective phase II study

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of desensitization therapy for overcoming hypersensitivity reactions to anticancer drugs in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.
Materials and Methods: a single-center prospective phase II study conducted from January 2020 to December 2024 at the N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology. Patients with advanced or recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal carcinoma who developed hypersensitivity reactions to platinum-containing agents and/or taxanes were enrolled. A four-step desensitization protocol with antihistamine and glucocorticosteroid premedication was used. The primary endpoint was the rate of successful desensitization therapy.
Results: forty-one patients were included in the study, with a median age of 53 years (30–74) and a median of 2 prior treatment lines. Carboplatin was the most frequent cause of hypersensitivity (80.5% of cases). Desensitization therapy was successfully completed in 37 (90.2%) patients. Of 160 planned chemotherapy cycles, 154 (96.3%) were successfully delivered. All hypersensitivity reactions that occurred during desensitization were mild (grade 1-2 by CTCAE).
Conclusion: desensitization therapy is a highly effective and safe method for overcoming hypersensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. The four-step desensitization protocol can be recommended for widespread use in clinical practice at various cancer facilities.