In total, 70 patients were enrolled into this phase II study, to evaluate the activity of the pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) and gemcitabine (GEM) combination in recurrent ovarian cancer patients. PLD, 30 mg m(-2), was administered on day 1 by 60' i.v. infusion, followed by GEM, 1000 mg m(-2), given by 30' i.v. on days 1 and 8; cycles were repeated every 21 days. In all, 67 patients are so far evaluable for response. Seven complete responses (10.4%, 95% CI: 3.1-17.7), 16 partial responses (23.9%, 95% CI: 13.7-34.1), 26 disease stabilisations (38.8%, 95% CI: 27.1-50.5) and 18 progressions (26.9%, 95% CI: 16.3-37.5) have been registered. Within the resistant population (n=36), the response rate was 25% (95% CI: 10.9-39.1). Within the group of platinum-sensitive patients (n=31), the response rate was 45.2% (95% CI: 27.7-62.7). A total of 443 courses are evaluable for toxicity. Grade 3-4 hematological toxicity was registered in 30 patients (42.8%), mainly represented by neutropenia (35.6%); palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia affected 24 patients (34.2%), but it was of grade 3 in only seven of them (10%).