Gemcitabine plus epirubicin in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma who are not eligible for platinum-based regimens

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of gemcitabine plus epirubicin in previously untreated patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma who were not eligible for cisplatin-based regimens.

Methods: Patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma and at least one of the following characteristics were eligible: impaired renal function (creatinine clearance < 60 mL per minute), an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (PS) >or= 2, and age >or= 75 years. The treatment included epirubicin 70 mg/m(2) as an intravenous bolus on Day 1 and gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) over 30 minutes on Days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle.

Results: Thirty-eight patients entered the study, and a total of 152 cycles were administered, with a median of 4 cycles per patient (range, 1-6 cycles per patient). The following Grade 3-4 hematologic toxicities were reported (percent of cycles): neutropenia, 22.4%; anemia, 11.2%; and thrombocytopenia, 6.5%. No cardiac, renal, or hepatic toxicities were observed. Dose intensities of epirubicin and gemcitabine were 19.6 mg/m(2) per week (84%) and 532.2 mg/m(2) per week (80%), respectively. There were 2 complete responses (5.3%), 13 partial responses (34.2%), 11 patients with stable disease (28.9%), and 12 patients with progressive disease (31.6%), for an overall response rate of 39.5% (95% confidence interval, 25.1-55.1). The median progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 4.8 months and 8.0 months, respectively. The 1-year survival rate was 38%, and the median PFS and OS were 6.4 months and 16.4 months, respectively, in patients with PS 0-1. Thirty patients were symptomatic: Seventeen patients (56.7%) achieved a complete response, and 5 patients (16.7%) achieved a partial symptomatic response.

Conclusions: At the doses given in this study, gemcitabine and epirubicin had a good tolerability profile with interesting activity in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma who were not fit for cisplatin-based regimens.