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The following is a summary of “Is switching intravesical chemotherapeutic agents beneficial in short-term recurrent high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors? A 5-year retrospective study,” published in the January 2024 issue of Urology by Chen et al.
This study aimed to investigate the potential benefits of switching intravesical chemotherapeutic agents in short-term recurrences of high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) following the failure of initial intravesical therapy.
Between June 2010 and October 2015, 205 patients with NMIBC experiencing tumor recurrence within a year after receiving first-line intravesical chemotherapy (IVC) were divided into two groups. Following a second complete transurethral resection (TUR), 107 patients (group A) had an immediate switch in intravesical instillation agent, while the remaining 98 patients (group B) continued with their original instillation agent. Post-transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT), all patients received immediate instillation of epirubicin (EPI), gemcitabine (GEM), or hydroxy camptothecin (HCPT), followed by regular induction and maintenance instillations. Chi-square tests assessed recurrence and progression rates, while Kaplan–Meier analysis calculated recurrence-free survival (RFS) and progression-free survival (PFS).
No significant differences were observed in the 5-year tumor recurrence or progression rates between the two groups (p > 0.05). Kaplan–Meier plots illustrated no distinctions in progression-free or recurrence-free survival.
The study concludes that switching IVC agents does not enhance RFS and PFS for patients with short-term recurrent high-risk NMIBC.
Source: bmcurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12894-024-01410-1