Abstract
Background/Aim: Urothelial carcinoma is a chemo-sensitive cancer. We investigated the contributory factors to survival benefit of metastatic urothelial carcinoma (MUC) patients receiving continuous maintenance chemotherapy. Patients and Methods: Inclusion criteria were: i) pathology-confirmed urothelial carcinoma, ii) metastatic lesions identified mainly on pre-therapy computed tomography (CT) scans, and iii) inpatient-administered chemotherapy of at least three cycles. Chemotherapy regimens included 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, cisplatin, and gemcitabine. Results: A total of 139 cases were enrolled in this study. The overall objective response rate was 60% and the median survival time was 17 months. Eight-two (59%) patients had inflammation-related symptoms following the course of chemotherapy. Fifty-five (41%) patients survived more than two years. All patients exhibited various fibrosis formations. No patient experienced unfavorable metastatic conditions. Inflammation-related symptoms remained in 28 (51%) patients. We found that surgery, invasive procedures, and infection likely led to a rapid tumor progression. Conclusion: Continuous maintenance chemotherapy targeting chemo-sensitive tumors, administered at metronomic intervals and focus on tumor microenvironment, can increase MUC survival benefits.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1249-1262 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | In Vivo |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Chemotherapy
- Computed tomography
- Maintenance chemotherapy inflammation
- Metastases
- Urothelial carcinoma
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
- Pharmacology