Accelerated v's Standard BEP Chemotherapy for Patients With Intermediate and Poor-risk Metastatic Germ Cell Tumours

Bleomycin, Etoposide, Cisplatin (BEP) administered 3-weekly x 4 remains standard 1st line chemotherapy for intermediate- and poor-risk metastatic germ cell tumours (GCTs). Cure rates are over 90% for good-risk disease, 85% with intermediate-risk, and about 70% for poor-risk disease. Previous strategies to improve first-line chemotherapy have failed to improve cure rates and were more toxic than BEP. New strategies are needed for patients with intermediate and poor-risk disease. BEP is accelerated by cycling Cisplatin and etoposide 2-weekly instead of 3-weekly. The Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group (ANZUP) is conducting a trial comparing accelerated BEP with standard BEP. The aim of this study is to determine if accelerated BEP is superior to standard BEP as first-line chemotherapy for intermediate and poor risk metastatic GCTs.