The Effects of Intravesical Chemoimmunotherapy with Gemcitabine and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin in Superficial Bladder Cancer: a Preliminary Study

초록

This prospective study investigated the long-term effects of intravesical chemoimmunotherapy with gemcitabine (GEM) and bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG; n = 36) versus BCG alone (n = 51) for the treatment of superficial bladder cancer. For the chemoimmunotherapy (GEM + BCG) group, GEM (1000 mg) was instilled immediately after transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) and again (2000 mg) I week later. From 2 to 7 weeks after TURBT, BCG was instilled into the bladder of all patients once weekly. The recurrence-free period of the GEM + BCG group (24.13 months) was significantly longer than that of the BCG monotherapy group (19.81 months). The overall recurrence rate was similar between the groups, although at 6 and 9 months post-TURBT, GEM + BCG produced a significantly lower rate of recurrence compared with BCG alone. This study suggests that intravesical chemoirnmunotherapy with GEM + BCG is effective in reducing early tumour recurrence and in prolonging the recurrence-free period of superficial bladder cancer.

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