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Small cell carcinoma of the bladder
Author(s) -
Lohrisch Caroline,
Murray Nevin,
Pickles Tom,
Sullivan Lorne
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19991201)86:11<2346::aid-cncr24>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - medicine , small cell carcinoma , etoposide , chemotherapy , transitional cell carcinoma , carcinoma , surgery , bladder cancer , stage (stratigraphy) , cancer , oncology , paleontology , biology
BACKGROUND Small cell carcinoma of the bladder (SCCB) is an uncommon tumor with approximately 8% 5‐year survival reported in the literature for patients with disease confined to the pelvis. It exhibits biologic behavior similar to that of small cell carcinoma of the lung (SCLC). The authors sought to determine whether etoposide and cisplatin chemotherapy integrated with local irradiation is associated with improved survival in SCCB, as has been shown in SCLC. METHODS The authors performed a retrospective analysis of stage, treatment, disease free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) among 14 British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) patients treated between 1985 and 1996 for SCCB. RESULTS When multiagent chemotherapy was combined with local irradiation, the authors observed a 70% 2‐year and 44% 5‐year actuarial OS among 10 patients without contraindications to systemic chemotherapy. Actuarial DFS was 70% at 2 and 5 years. The mean survival was 47 months (95% confidence interval, 18.5–76.1 months) and the median survival was 41 months. Nine of these patients had disease confined to the pelvis, and one had metastases to retroperitoneal lymph nodes. Five patients were alive and disease free an average of 82 months following diagnosis. Two patients had died of other causes without evidence of disease at 34 and 48 months following diagnosis. The incidence of second primary transitional cell bladder neoplasms following successful treatment was 60% at 2 years (3 of 5 long term survivors). CONCLUSIONS Integrated chemoradiation for patients with limited stage SCCB generates a realistic expectation of long term survival. Prospective trials to confirm these findings are warranted. Cancer 1999;86:2346–52. © 1999 American Cancer Society.