[A course of pirarubicin vesical irrigation at thirty mg effectively prevents post-TUR recurrence of superficial bladder cancer].

In order to study its safety and anti-cancer dose-effectiveness in the prevention of cancer recurrence, two groups of patients having superficial bladder cancer (TUR-Bt) had their bladder intravesically irrigated post-surgically with 20 or 30 mg aliquots of (2''R)-4'-0-tetrahydropyranyl-adriamycin (THP). A total of 74 patients with bladder cancer were entered in the study. Four cases proved ineligible, and 30 could not complete the planned treatment. THP vesical irrigation of 14-17 sessions was regarded as a condition for eligibility: Clinical evaluation was feasible with 19 patients of 20 mg and 21 of 30 mg THP. Non-recurrence rates at 1, 2, 3 and 4 years were 89.5, 53.3, and 26.6%, respectively, for the 20 mg group, and 95.2, 84.3, 75.9 and 75.9%, respectively, for the 30 mg THP group. The incidence of side effects appeared slightly greater in the 30 mg THP group than in the 20 mg group, and there were no systemic adverse reactions. Topical reaction of cystitis was noted to be as low as 12.5%. Thus, THP vesical irrigations at 30 mg were found tolerable and effective for the prevention of local recurrence following TUR-Bt.