Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for primary adenocarcinomas of the urinary bladder: a single-site experience

Adenocarcinoma of the urinary bladder is a rare malignancy. Radical surgery is suggested as the best available treatment for early-stage disease, but there is currently no consensus on standard chemotherapy regimen for advanced stage. We assessed the feasibility and effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin (GC) plus S-1 for patients with locally advanced primary adenocarcinomas of the urinary bladder.

Six patients with locally advanced urachal or non-urachal (n = 3, each) primary adenocarcinoma of the bladder were treated from October 2010 to October 2013 at a single center. All the patients were treated with 3 cycles (21d, each) of GC plus S-1 (gemcitabine, 1000 mg/m2, days 1 and 8; cisplatin, 70 mg/m2, day 2; and S-1, 50 mg bid, day 1-14). After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, patients with urachal cancer were treated with en bloc radical cystectomy and umbilectomy; the remaining 3 patients were treated with cystectomy.

All patients successfully completed the neoadjuvant chemotherapy without serious side effects. Two patients were assessed as complete response, 2 as partial response, 1 as stable disease and 1 as progressive disease.

Despite the limitations of a small study population, the GC plus S-1 regimen for locally advanced primary adenocarcinoma of the urinary bladder was effective, and facilitated the success of surgery to a certain extent. Short follow-up time was also a limitation of our study. More studies are needed to evaluate the results.