Bladder preservation therapy conducted by intra-arterial chemotherapy and radiotherapy for muscle invasive bladder cancer.

OBJECTIVE

A previous paper reported favorable results of intra-arterial chemotherapy in combination with radiotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The current study will update those results.

METHODS

Between January 1992 and December 2006, 94 patients with confirmed muscle invasion were treated with intra-arterial chemotherapy and concurrent radiotherapy after an initial complete transurethral resection. Intra-arterial chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin (Days 1-3) and pirarubicin (Days 8-10), and radiation was administered with the chemotherapy (2 Gy/session) with a total dosage of 44 Gy. The median age was 67.0 years. There were 60 patients in T2, 19 patients in T3 and 15 patients in T4. The median follow-up period was 72.9 months in the survivors.

RESULTS

Among these patients, 84 patients (89.4%) obtained a complete response (CR) and 10 patients did not achieve a CR. Between the CR and non-CR patients, the clinical stage and the existence of hydronephrosis were significantly different. The cause-specific survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 76.2% and 67.5%, respectively. The overall survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 66.6% and 47.4%, respectively. A Cox proportional hazard model showed that only the cause-specific survival rate was associated with a CR after treatment. The bladder preservation rates were 89.7% at 5 years and 87.6% at 10 years. Myelosuppression was the major adverse event but it was manageable. Non-hematological sever adverse events were rare.

CONCLUSIONS

Bladder preservation therapy shows good survival and good bladder preservation rates. Clinical stage T2 and the absence of hydronephrosis are favorable factors.