Objective: Comparing intra-arterial chemotherapy combined with intravesical chemotherapy against intravesical chemotherapy alone in the treatment of T1-staged Grade 3 (T1G3) bladder cancer after transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT).
Materials and methods: From January 2007 to December 2012, 203 patients diagnosed with NMIBC were randomly assigned into either intra-arterial chemotherapy combined with intravesical chemotherapy group (Group A, n = 68) or intravesical chemotherapy alone group (Group B, n = 135) after TURBT. Four cycles of intra-arterial chemotherapy were administered after initial TURBT with 1-month interval between each. Intravesical chemotherapy was administered in both groups including an immediate 50 mg epirubicin instillation after TURBT and weekly maintenance for 8 weeks, and then followed by monthly maintenance for 1 year. The primary endpoint was recurrence-free survival.
Results: Out of 203 patients, 53 were in Group A and 98 in Group B, and they were evaluated for recurrence and progression rate where recurrence rate was 35.8% (19/53) in group A and 41.8% (41/98) in group B with a significant difference (P < 0.05) and progression rate was 20.7% (11/53) in group A and 23.5% (23/98) in group B with a significant difference (P < 0.05). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that intra-arterial chemotherapy could be an independent risk factors related to both overall survival and time to first recurrence.
Conclusions: Intra-arterial chemotherapy combined with intravesical chemotherapy could reduce the risk of recurrence and progression compared to intravesical chemotherapy alone in T1G3 bladder cancer.
Keywords: Bladder cancer; Intra-arterial chemotherapy; Intravesical chemotherapy; T1G3; Transurethral resection of bladder tumor.