New active non-toxic therapeutic regimens are warranted in ovarian cancer relapsing after platinum-based chemotherapy. Some investigators have determined that androgen receptors predominated over oestrogen and progesterone receptors in untreated common epithelial ovarian cancer tissue cytosols. In an effort to test its antitumoural activity, 68 pretreated patients with epithelial ovarian cancer were given flutamide 750 mg/day orally for at least 2 months. Of 32 patients who received a minimum of 2 months of therapy, pretreated with at least one platinum-based chemotherapy, and a median of two chemotherapy regimens, two (6.3%) objective responses (one complete and one partial) and nine (28%) disease stabilisations were observed; these lasted 44 and 72 weeks, respectively (for the complete and partial response), and for a median of 24 weeks for stabilisations (range 12-48+). Nausea and vomiting were the most frequent side-effects. These occurred in 19/55 (34.5%) patients evaluable for toxicity. Flutamide has to be considered ineffective in patients extensively pretreated with chemotherapy, and it is not devoid of side-effects.