Phase II trial of single agent cetuximab in patients with persistent or recurrent epithelial ovarian or primary peritoneal carcinoma with the potential for dose escalation to rash

OBJECTIVES: Determine if cetuximab dose escalation to induce grade 2 rash correlates with anti-tumor activity and if sera-based markers could predict likelihood of response. METHODS: Patients with persistent/recurrent ovarian or primary peritoneal carcinoma received an initial dose of cetuximab 400 mg/m(2), then 250 mg/m(2) weekly for two 3-week cycles. Patients who had stable disease (SD) and