Oxaliplatin and Topotecan in Treating Patients With Previously Treated Ovarian Epithelial, Primary Peritoneal, or Fallopian Tube Cancer

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of combining oxaliplatin with topotecan in treating patients who have previously treated ovarian epithelial, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer.

OBJECTIVES: * Determine the maximum tolerated dose and dose-limiting toxic effects of oxaliplatin and topotecan in patients with previously treated ovarian epithelial cancer, primary peritoneal cancer, or fallopian tube cancer. * Determine the qualitative and quantitative toxic effects of this regimen in these patients. * Determine the pharmacokinetics of this regimen in these patients. * Determine the antitumor activity of this treatment regimen in these patients. * Determine the correlation between the pharmacokinetic and safety data of this regimen in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation, multicenter study. Patients receive oxaliplatin IV over 2 hours on days 1 and 15 and topotecan IV continuously on days 1-15. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients with measurable disease who achieve a response may receive additional therapy at the discretion of the principal investigator. Cohorts of 3-6 patients receive escalating doses of oxaliplatin and topotecan until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is determined. The MTD is defined as the dose at which 2 of 6 patients experience dose-limiting toxicity. Patients are followed through day 30. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A minimum of 15 patients will be accrued for this study.