Combination chemotherapy with cisplatin and methotrexate in advanced transitional cell cancer of the bladder

We studied 53 patients with bidimensionally measurable metastases of transitional cell cancer of the bladder who were treated with a planned regimen of 70 mg. per m. cisplatin intravenously on day 1, and 40 mg. per m. methotrexate intravenously on days 8 and 15 every 3 weeks. The toxicity of this regimen, with agranulocytosis and mucositis as the most important side effects, was so severe that only 17 per cent of the patients actually received the protocol regimen without modification. Six patients were ineligible and 47 were evaluable for toxicity, including 43 who were evaluable for response. The response to treatment was assessed after each second treatment cycle. A complete response was achieved in 10 patients (23 per cent) and a partial response was achieved in 10 (23 per cent). The median duration of response was 64 weeks for patients with a complete response and 23 weeks for those with a partial response, while the median duration of survival was 81 and 37 weeks, respectively. The aforementioned regimen with allowance of routine leucovorin rescue is tested as preoperative chemotherapy in patients with stages T3 to T4 nonmetastatic bladder cancer.