Combination chemotherapy for advanced urothelial-tract carcinoma

Between December 1982 and November 1990, 31 patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma were treated with one of two combination chemotherapy regimens. A total of 20 patients were treated with 3 mg/m2 mitomycin C and 300 mg/m2 cyclophosphamide given intravenously every 10-14 days and with 180 mg/m2 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) given intravenously every day for as long as possible (CF-Mito regimen). After the patient had been discharged from the hospital, the same treatment with CF-Mito was performed except that 180 mg/m2 5-FU was replaced by 400 mg/m2 UFT (a mixture of tegafur and uracil) given orally. A total of 11 patients whose tumor had relapsed during the first-line treatment were given 60 mg/m2 cisplatin, 40 mg/m2 Adriamycin, and 40 mg/m2 methotrexate intravenously every 28 days (PAM regimen). In all, 20 patients received 4-44 (mean, 9.7) courses of CF-Mito over a period of 1.5-24 (mean, 5.3) months. The results obtained in these 20 patients with evaluable lesions included no complete remission (CR), 4 partial remissions (PRs), 9 cases of stable disease (SD), and 7 cases of progressive disease (PD). The PR duration was 1.5-22 (mean, 7.5) months. The side effects encountered in this group included anorexia, nausea, vomiting, myelosuppression, diarrhea, stomatitis, liver damage, and heart failure. In all, 11 patients received 3-7 (mean, 4.1) courses of PAM over a period of 3-14.5 (mean, 5.2) months. All 11 patients had evaluable lesions, and their responses included no CR, 5 PRs, 3 cases of SD, and 3 cases of PD. The PR duration was 1-3 (mean, 1.6) months. The side effects encountered in this group included anorexia, nausea, vomiting, myelosuppression, heart failure, and hair loss.