A pilot study of chemotherapy alternating with twice-a-day accelerated radiation therapy as an alternative to cystectomy in muscle infiltrating (stages T2 and T3) cancer of the bladder: Preliminary results

Laboratory studies have suggested that rapidly alternating chemotherapy and accelerated radiation therapy might act synergistically. We evaluated the toxicity and effectiveness of this approach in muscle infiltrating transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder in patients who were poor risks for or who refused cystectomy. We treated 18 men and 3 women with stage T2 or T3 transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder by transurethral resection, followed by 3 cycles of chemotherapy (during weeks 1, 4 and 7) rapidly alternating with 3 cycles of twice-a-day radiation therapy (during weeks 2, 5 and 8). Chemotherapy consisted of methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin. The total dose of radiation therapy was 5,400 to 6,000 cGy. during 6 1/2 weeks and the total duration of chemotherapy and radiation therapy was 7 1/2 weeks. One patient died of hematological toxicity during treatment. With a median followup of 2 years (range 0.5 to 5.5 years) the observed survival rate was 72% at 2 years and 60% at 3 years. To date, only 1 patient (5%) had recurrence of invasive cancer in the pelvis. Only 3 others (15%) had carcinoma in situ but to date none has required cystectomy. Bladder function was normal in 15 of 18 evaluable patients (83.5%). This pilot study suggests that chemotherapy alternating with radiation therapy produced an encouraging survival rate without cystectomy and deserves further study. These patients require continued surveillance for carcinoma in situ.