[Short-term outcome of neoadjuvant gemcitabine-carboplatin therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer]

Twenty-three patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer were treated with combination chemotherapy of gemcitabine and carboplatin. Gemcitabine at a dose of 800 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion for 30 minutes on Days 1, 8 and 15. Carboplatin at an AUC of 4, according to the Calvert formula, was administered by intravenous infusion for 3 hours on Day 2. The treatment was repeated every 21 days without drug-free-weeks for a total of 2 cycles. Six patients achieved a complete response(CR)and 8 patients achieved a partial response(PR). Overall response rate(CR+PR) was 60.8%. In addition, 7 patients achieved stable disease(SD), whereas 2 were found to have progressive disease (PD). Although Grade 3 or 4 leukocytopenia was seen in 10 patients(43.4%), low-grade toxicities of anemia, thrombocytopenia and nausea were seen in several patients, so it was possible to complete the treatment on schedule in all patients. Five SD patients died(4 by cancer and 1 by another cause), 2 PD patients were found to have disease progression, and 16 patients were alive without recurrence with a mean follow-up period of 12.6 months(range: 8-19).