Intraarterial infusion of cisplatin with and without preoperative concurrent radiation for urinary bladder cancer: a preliminary report.

We evaluated the clinical efficacy of treating urinary bladder cancer by intraarterial infusion of cisplatin using an implanted reservoir with and without preoperative concurrent radiation. No previous reports have compared the results obtained by these two methods of treatment. Twenty-three patients with bladder cancer were treated by intraarterial infusion of cisplatin using an implanted reservoir with (n = 13) and without (n = 10) concurrent radiation. The cisplatin plus radiation group received intraarterial cisplatin at a total dose of 200-400 mg and concurrent radiation to a total dose to 30 Gy. The cisplatin group received intraarterial cisplatin at a total dose of 100-600 mg. In the cisplatin plus radiation group, the overall tumor response rate was 92%. Seven of 13 (53%) patients obtained complete response (CR), and the 2-year actuarial survival rate was 92%. Only one of the seven complete responders has had a local recurrence. In the cisplatin group, the overall tumor response rate was 90%. Four of 10 (40%) patients obtained CR, and median survival was 8 months. Three of the four complete responders have had local recurrence. There was no significant difference between these two groups in the frequency of side effects. Concurrent radiation therapy with intraarterial cisplatin resulted in a very low rate of recurrence of bladder cancer compared with intraarterial cisplatin therapy alone. This method was useful for urinary bladder cancer and may become the treatment of choice for this type of cancer.