Overall, 234 patients were randomised between 1994 and 2001. There were 56 % good responders in the etoposide-ifosfamide arm versus 39 % in the doxorubicin arm (p-value = 0.009). With a median follow-up of 77 months, the 5-year event-free survival of the entire population was 62 % , slightly greater in the etoposide-ifosfamide arm than in the doxorubicin arm, but the difference was not significant (Hazard Ratio: HR = 0.71, 95 % CI: 0.5–1.06, p-value = 0.09). Five-year overall survival of the entire population was 76 % , similar in both arms (HR = 0.95, 95 % CI: 0.6–1.6, p-value = 0.85). Toxicity was manageable with different acute toxicity profiles between treatment arms. No acute toxicity related death was reported. About 43 % of the patients in the etoposide-ifosfamide arm were event-free at 3 years without having received any doxorubicin or cisplatin, thus avoiding the risk of long-term cardio- and ototoxicity.
Preliminary results of the study have been presented at the SIOP meeting, Brisbane, 2001 and at the ASCO meeting, Orlando, 2002.
Audited by the French Competent Authority: AFSSAPS (Agence Française de Sécurité SAnitaire des Produits de Santé).
Registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov registry. Trial number: NCT00180908.