Bladder cancer, 1996

In superficial Ta or T1 tumors intravesical chemotherapy can eradicate existing carcinoma in one third to one half of patients and reduce tumor recurrence by 12 to 15 percent, on average. Superficial bladder cancer is remarkably sensitive to immunotherapy, particularly BCG. The use of BCG eradicates about two thirds of papillary carcinoma and nearly 90 percent of carcinoma in situ and reduces tumor recurrence by an average of 40 percent. Data now suggest that BCG immunotherapy reduces long-term tumor recurrence, disease progression, and mortality. The proclivity for tumor recurrence makes superficial bladder cancer an ideal malignancy for the evaluation of chemoprevention, and preliminary data suggest that high doses of vitamins may also reduce tumor recurrence. In locally advanced T2b to T4, N0 or N1, M0 bladder cancer, substantial clinical responses can be achieved if chemotherapy is used prior to surgical resection of muscle-invasive tumor (neoadjuvant treatment). Controlled trials are necessary to ascertain whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival. The use of CMV prior to and concomitant with bladder irradiation is also encouraging, but will require randomized trials to clarify its role in the treatment of invasive, nonmetastatic cancer. Finally, trials suggest benefit for chemotherapy used adjuvantly (after cystectomy) for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. However, further investigation is necessary to clarify and confirm the role of chemotherapy in this setting before it can be recommended routinely for patients. In metastatic disease, chemotherapy with CMV or M-VAC with surgical resection of residual masses can produce a cohort of long-term survivors with advanced bladder cancer. How to increase this small but important population of patients is a question for further research.