[Studies on the clinical effectiveness of combination therapy with irradiation and chemotherapy for advanced bladder cancer]

The effectiveness of a preoperative combination of chemotherapy and irradiation on advanced bladder cancer was evaluated. The combination therapy group (Arm I) included 21 patients, the preoperative chemotherapy group (Arm II) 14 patients, and a group without preoperative treatment, 35 patients. There were no distinguishing background factors among the three groups. Chemotherapy included vincristine, adriamycin, mitomycin, bleomycin/and 5-FU. A total of 3000 rads was irradiated locally, and the results were promising. The Arm I group was superior to the other two groups in terms of response rate, histological effectiveness and downstaging effects. Also, the 5-year-survival rate for Arm I was much better than in the other groups. There were no great differences in adverse effects between Arm I and II.