The Combination of Gemcitabine, Cisplatin, and Paclitaxel as Salvage Chemotherapy for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma

There is no standard second-line or salvage treatment for advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC). Here we investigated the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine, cisplatin, and paclitaxel (GCP) combination chemotherapy as salvage chemotherapy for advanced UC. We retrospectively analyzed the cases of 23 patients with advanced UC who showed progression or recurrence after cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2), and paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) were administered on days 1 and 8. Cisplatin (70 mg/m2) was administered on day 1. The 3-week cycle regimen was repeated until disease progression if it had no intolerable toxicity. The overall response rate was 61% (95%CI, 41-78%). The median overall survival and progression-free survival times were 14 months and 5.5 months, respectively. Of the already known risk factors of chemotherapy for advanced UC, only the performance status was a prognostic factor for OS. Overall, 16 of the 23 patients (70%) experienced grade 3/4 toxicities, and no fatal adverse events were observed. GCP therapy was a promising option as second-line or salvage therapy for advanced UC.