PURPOSE: We report our experience with intravesical gemcitabine for bladder cancer after failed bacillus Calmette-Guérin treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients at our cancer center treated with intravesical gemcitabine after bacillus Calmette-Guérin failure. We estimated progression-free, recurrence-free and cancer specific survival using the cumulative incidence function, considering death from another cause as a competing risk. Comparisons were made using the Gray test. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and differences were compared with the log rank test. RESULTS: Of 69 patients treated with intravesical gemcitabine 37 had bacillus Calmette-Guérin refractory disease. Median followup in progression-free patients was 3.3 years. Progression-free and cancer specific survival were similar in patients with refractory disease and those with other types of bacillus Calmette-Guérin failure. Overall survival was lower in patients with refractory disease (58% vs 71%) but this was not statistically significant (p=0.096). Of the patients 27 patients experienced a complete response. Progression-free, cancer specific and overall survival did not differ significantly between patients with and without a complete response. Cystectomy was subsequently performed in 20 patients. Those with a complete response had a delayed time to cystectomy and no muscle invasive bladder cancer at cystectomy. There were no serious adverse events and only a minority of patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience intravesical gemcitabine should be considered after bacillus Calmette-Guérin failure in patients with bladder cancer who refuse radical cystectomy or who are not candidates for major surgery.
PURPOSE: We report our experience with intravesical gemcitabine for bladder cancer after failed bacillus Calmette-Guérin treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients at our cancer center treated with intravesical gemcitabine after bacillus Calmette-Guérin failure. We estimated progression-free, recurrence-free and cancer specific survival using the cumulative incidence function, considering death from another cause as a competing risk. Comparisons were made using the Gray test. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and differences were compared with the log rank test. RESULTS: Of 69 patients treated with intravesical gemcitabine 37 had bacillus Calmette-Guérin refractory disease. Median followup in progression-free patients was 3.3 years. Progression-free and cancer specific survival were similar in patients with refractory disease and those with other types of bacillus Calmette-Guérin failure. Overall survival was lower in patients with refractory disease (58% vs 71%) but this was not statistically significant (p=0.096). Of the patients 27 patients experienced a complete response. Progression-free, cancer specific and overall survival did not differ significantly between patients with and without a complete response. Cystectomy was subsequently performed in 20 patients. Those with a complete response had a delayed time to cystectomy and no muscle invasive bladder cancer at cystectomy. There were no serious adverse events and only a minority of patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience intravesical gemcitabine should be considered after bacillus Calmette-Guérin failure in patients with bladder cancer who refuse radical cystectomy or who are not candidates for major surgery.
Authors: Wassim Kassouf; Samer L Traboulsi; Girish S Kulkarni; Rodney H Breau; Alexandre Zlotta; Andrew Fairey; Alan So; Louis Lacombe; Ricardo Rendon; Armen G Aprikian; D Robert Siemens; Jonathan I Izawa; Peter Black Journal: Can Urol Assoc J Date: 2015-10-13 Impact factor: 1.862