Twenty-one patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian carcinoma not amenable to cure with further surgery or radiotherapy were entered into a Phase II trial utilizing i.v. leucovorin at 20 mg/m2 followed by i.v. 5-fluorouracil at 425 mg/m2 administered daily for 5 days every 4 weeks for the first two courses and then every 5 weeks. Twenty-one patients were entered. Of these, 20 were eligible for toxicity assessment and 19 for response. Five had received prior radiotherapy, and all had received prior cisplatin-based chemotherapy. There was one patient response (5.3%; 95% confidence intervals for response of 0% to 26%). Toxicity was moderate with 5 of 20 (25%) grade 3 or 4 leukopenia, 12 of 20 (60%) grade 3 or 4 granulocytopenia, 1 of 20 (5%) grade 3 thrombocytopenia, 5 of 20 (25%) grade 3 GI toxicity, and 2 of 20 (10%) grade 3 neurotoxicity. There was one toxic death in a patient who developed granulocytopenia and pneumonia after her third course of treatment. This dose schedule of 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin has minimal activity in patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian carcinoma who have received prior cisplatin chemotherapy.