Concomitant radiotherapy and carboplatin in locally advanced bladder cancer

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy and safety of co ncomitant radiotherapy (CRT) and carboplatin. Patients and Methods: From 19 92 until 1997, 67 patients with T3 invasive bladder cancer (IBC) were treat ed using CRT and carboplatin. X-Ray radiotherapy (10 MeV) was applied using LINAC in a locoregional technique, with a total tumor dose of 65 Gy in 32 fractions. Carboplatin was administered as a bolus infusion once a week, on day 5, up to a total dose of 900 mg. Results: The most frequent toxicity w as hematological. Of the 67 treated patients, 92.5% achieved a clinically c omplete response, and 7.5% developed progressive disease during therapy. Th e 5-year overall survival was 55% and disease-free survival was 35%. Conclu sion: CRT and carboplatin appear to be safe and extremely active in the tre atment of T3 IBC, but the results should be confirmed in a randomized study .