RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in treating patients who have stage III or stage IV ovarian epithelial or primary peritoneal cancer.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the feasibility of administering multiple courses of carboplatin and topotecan without excessive dose modification or course delay in patients with previously untreated ovarian epithelial or primary peritoneal carcinoma. II. Describe the response rate and progression-free interval in these patients with this treatment regimen. III. Determine pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters related to the sequence of carboplatin and topotecan administration in these patients.

OUTLINE: Patients are assigned to one of three treatment regimens. Regimen I: Patients receive carboplatin IV over 30 minutes on day 1 followed by topotecan IV over 30 minutes on days 1-3. Treatment continues every 21 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients then receive paclitaxel IV over 3 hours followed by carboplatin IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Treatment continues every 21 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Regimen II: Patients receive topotecan IV over 30 minutes on days 1-3 followed by carboplatin IV over 30 minutes on day 3. Treatment continues every 21 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients then receive paclitaxel IV over 3 hours followed by carboplatin IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Treatment continues every 21 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Regimen III: Patients receive topotecan IV over 30 minutes on days 1-5 followed by carboplatin IV over 30 minutes on day 5. Treatment continues every 21 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients then receive paclitaxel IV over 3 hours followed by carboplatin IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Treatment continues every 21 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed at 1 month and then every 3 months for 1 year.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 15-80 patients will be accrued for this study within 2 years.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically confirmed stage III or IV ovarian epithelial or primary peritoneal carcinoma Prior surgery required within the past 12 weeks Either optimal (no greater than 1 cm residual disease) or suboptimal residual disease following initial surgery No ovarian epithelial tumors of low malignant potential (borderline tumor) The following histologic epithelial cell types are eligible: Serous adenocarcinoma Mucinous adenocarcinoma Clear cell adenocarcinoma Transitional cell carcinoma Adenocarcinoma not otherwise specified Endometrioid adenocarcinoma Undifferentiated carcinoma Mixed epithelial carcinoma Malignant Brenner tumor

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: Not specified Performance status: GOG 0-2 Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm3 Platelet count at least lower limit of normal Hepatic: Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) SGOT and alkaline phosphatase no greater than 2.5 times ULN No acute hepatitis Renal: Creatinine no greater than 1.5 times ULN Cardiovascular: No unstable angina No myocardial infarction within past 6 months Abnormal cardiac conduction (e.g., bundle branch block, heart block) allowed if stable for past 6 months Other: No septicemia or severe infection No severe gastrointestinal bleeding No concurrent or prior invasive malignancies within past 5 years except nonmelanoma skin cancer No greater than grade 1 neuropathy

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: Not specified Chemotherapy: No prior chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: Not specified Radiotherapy: No prior radiotherapy Surgery: See Disease Characteristics Other: No prior cancer treatment that contraindicates study protocol