High-dose intensity systemic therapy of metastatic bladder cancer.

Abstract

Forty-three consecutively diagnosed patients with widely metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (TCCB) were treated with a high-dose intensity, chronobiologically timed combination of doxorubicin and cisplatin, followed by Cytoxan (Mead Johnson Pharmaceuticals, Evansville, IN), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and cisplatin maintenance for up to 2 years. Fifty-seven percent of the 35 evaluable patients with widespread metastatic cancer responded objectively. Twenty-three percent had complete disappearance of all cancer. Median survival from first treatment for complete responders (CRs) was more than 2 years, and 1 year for partial responders (PRs). Three of the CRs were alive without evidence of cancer more than 2 years after stopping all therapy. High-dose intensity combination chemotherapy can induce durable CRs of widespread bladder cancer.

A Phase-II Study of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in T(3)-4N(0)-XM(0) Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder: A Preliminary Analysis

“…No sur vival difference is found between patients with a partial remission (PR) or no change [4,9]. Several centers have started to investigate the effect of the seemingly more effective chemotherapy regimes in a neoadjuvant setting in T2-T4 bladder cancer and showed that down-staging and even pathological complete remissions (CRs) of the primary tumor could be obtained [2,5,7,10].…”