Sixteen evaluable patients with refractory epithelial ovarian cancer were treated with oral 4-demethoxydaunorubicin. The drug was given in divided doses over 5 days and dosage was repeated every 3 weeks. There were no objective remissions. Three patients had stabilized disease of 5 to 7 months duration. Although well tolerated, this anthracycline has modest effectiveness against previously treated ovarian cancer.