Purpose: Methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin plus cisplatin (MVAC) and gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GC) are both effective first-line chemotherapy. We explore the responsive variables of MVAC and GC for patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma of bladder (mUCB).
Materials and methods: Patients who were initially diagnosed to have mUCB and received MVAC or GC as metastatic first-line chemotherapy between 2000 and 2014 at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital were reviewed. Totally, 130 patients were enrolled into our study. Univariable Cox proportional hazard models were constructed for OS. Hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was also presented.
Results: There were 50 patients (38%) in the MVAC group and 80 patients (62%) in the GC group. The median OS was insignificantly different between MVAC and GC groups, accounting for 17.0 and 14.4 months (P = 0.214), respectively. OS of MVAC group was significantly longer with regard to age ≦ 60 years (HR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.12-0.97, P = 0.036), pure urothelial carcinoma (HR: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.34-0.90, P = 0.015), > 1 metastatic sites (HR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.08-0.44, P = < 0.001), and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio > 3(HR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.25-0.81, P = 0.006), while OS with GC group was significantly longer with regard to variant urothelial carcinoma (HR: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.34-0.90, P = 0.015).
Conclusions: Our study disclosed the predictive factors of different regimen for mUCB. These results have clinical implication for physicians who treat patients with mUCB.
Keywords: antineoplastic agents; carcinoma, transitional cell; survival analysis.; urinary bladder.