Chemotherapy with gemcitabine, cisplatin, and docetaxel in the treatment for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a multicenter phase II study of the Hellenic Oncology Research Group (HORG)

Abstract

To assess the antitumor activity and toxicity of gemcitabine, cisplatin, and docetaxel (GCD) regimen in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. Chemotherapy-naïve patients, aged ≤70years with measurable or evaluable disease and a performance status (PS) of 0-2 were treated with sequential cisplatin 80mg/m(2) (d1), gemcitabine 1,100mg/m(2) (d1 and d14), and docetaxel 80mg/m(2) (d14) every 28days. Sixty patients with an ECOG PS of 0-2 were enroled. Most (71.7%) patients had stage IV disease. A median number of 4 chemotherapy cycles per patient (range, 1-9) was administered. Eight (13.3%) patients achieved a CR and 16 (26.7%) a partial response (PR) (intention-to-treat: ORR 40%; 95% CI 27.6-52.4%). Thirteen (21.7%) and 23 (38.3%) patients experienced stable and progressive disease, respectively. The median time to progression (TTP) was 7.7months (range, 0.7-43.4), and the median overall survival 21.4months (range, 0.7-68.6). Grade 3 and 4 neutropenia occurred in 27 (45%) patients and grade 3 and 4 thrombocytopenia in five (8.3%). Three (5%) patients developed febrile neutropenia. There were no treatment-related deaths. Severe non-haematological toxicity was infrequent. The GCD combination is an active and well-tolerated regimen in patients with chemotherapy-naive locally advanced or metastatic TCC and merits to be further investigated.