Antitumor effect and toxicity of single-drug treatment with per oral VP-16-213 (etoposide) were evaluated in a phase II trial which included 22 patients with recurrence or progression of ovarian carcinoma. Two of these patients were evaluable only for toxicity. All patients had previously been treated with a combination chemotherapy involving at least three different drugs. The median age was 59 years (range 21-76). VP-16-213 was administered orally at a daily dose of 200 mg/m2 for 4 consecutive days every third week with systematic dose escalation. Fourteen patients were treated to grade 3-4 hematologic toxicity (WHO) and 8 to grade 0-2. Eleven experienced nausea and vomiting and 4 partial alopecia. One patient achieved a CR and another a PR with a duration of 3 months and 5 + months, respectively.