Accelerated cisplatin-based chemotherapy for advanced bladder cancer

The toxicity and efficacy of accelerated cisplatin, vincristine and methotrexate was assessed in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma. 30 consecutive patients were entered into a phase II trial and treated with cisplatin, vincristine and methotrexate given every 10 days (MOPq10) for four cycles, followed by two further cycles at 21 day intervals. Five complete responses and 14 partial responses were observed (overall response rate 63%; 95% confidence interval 45-78%). The median progression-free survival was 7.5 months (range 1.8-28) and the median overall survival 10.5 months (range 2.36). Toxicity was moderate with no treatment-related deaths. It is concluded that although the overall survival is still disappointing, the toxicity is less with the protocol than reported with methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin (M-VAC) or escalated M-VAC (E-MVAC) and the time on treatment is shorter. MOPq10 provided palliative benefit to two-thirds of patients with advanced transitional cell carcinoma including those in their eighth decade.