Shortages in intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy represent a challenge in the management of high-risk nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (HR-NMIBC). This study aimed to review the efficacy and safety of intravesical gemcitabine (GEM) and docetaxel (DOCE) for BCG-naive and unresponsive HR-NMIBC.
We identified six studies eligible for quantitative analysis through a systematic search according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement. In the two studies in the BCG-naive setting, 1-year and 2-year pooled recurrence-free survival (RFS) were 86 and 84%, respectively. In the two studies in the BCG unresponsive setting, 6-month, 1-year and 2-year pooled high-grade recurrence-free survival (HG-RFS) were 80, 66 and 51%, respectively. Cumulative data from four studies revealed that 2.3% of patients could not complete induction therapy and 6.9% experienced treatment delay or dose reduction due to adverse events.
Despite the preliminary data and based on a small sample size, intravesical GEM/DOCE therapy is a highly promising combination yielding an effective and well tolerated alternative to BCG when indicated. Further large, well designed comparative studies with BCG are needed.
Current opinion in urology. 2022 Dec 12 [Epub ahead of print]
Tatsushi Kawada, Takafumi Yanagisawa, Motoo Araki, Benjamin Pradere, Shahrokh F Shariat
Department of Urology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria., Department of Urology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama., Department of Urology UROSUD, La Croix Du Sud Hospital, Quint Fonsegrives, France.