Advanced bladder cancer: therapy with cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum(II), adriamycin, and 5-fluorouracil.

Nineteen patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial cancer were treated with the combination of cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum(II), Adriamycin, and 5-fluorouracil. One patient died within 2 weeks of therapy and one patient had no measurable disease, leaving 18 patients evaluable for survival and toxicity and 17 patients evaluable for response. Eleven patients (65%) achieved a partial remission with attendant clinical improvement, with a median duration of 25 weeks. All nonresponders have died, with a median survival of 17 weeks. The median survival of responding patients was 40 weeks, with two patients alive at 33+ and 63+ weeks. Of particular interest are three patients who had resections of residual pelvic disease after significant regression with chemotherapy. One of these patients remains disease-free at 63+ weeks. Toxicity was significant but generally manageable.