Cis-diamminedichloride platinum II in the treatment of advanced bladder cancer.

There were 21 patients with advanced, measurable bladder cancer who were treated with cis-diamminedichloride platinum II. Of the 21 patients 3 (14 per cent) achieved a complete response that persisted for more than 1 year, while 6 (29 per cent) achieved a partial remission for an average duration of 5.7 months. Responses to cis-diamminedichloride platinum II were noted shortly after administration of the drug. After the initial response no additional benefit of cis-diamminedichloride platinum II was observed after 9 weeks (third dose). Despite the fact that cis-diamminedichloride platinum II was tolerated reasonably well by the majority of patients and that there were 3 cases of long-term remission cis-diamminedichloride platinum II appears limited to induction of a response in patients with advanced bladder cancer rather than for long-term maintenance therapy.