Comparison of different schedules of cytostatic intravesical instillations in patients with superficial bladder carcinoma: final evaluation of a prospective multicenter study with 419 patients.

In a prospective multicenter study we compared the value of various protocols of mitomycin C and doxorubicin instillation for the prevention of recurrent tumors in patients whose superficial bladder tumors (stages TA and T1) had been removed by transurethral resection. The 3-year and short-term instillation protocols were compared to each other and to a combination of 2 protocols. Evaluation after a mean followup of 28 months confirmed the value of cytostatic bladder instillation in preventing recurrence and progression of tumor in patients with superficial bladder carcinoma. There was no significant difference between the results of long-term and short-term prophylaxis; their combination achieved the best results. Doxorubicin and mitomycin yielded similar results; mitomycin was better tolerated.