Neoadjuvant Dose Dense MVAC versus Gemcitabine and Cisplatin in Patients with cT3-4aN0M0 Bladder Cancer Treated with Radical Cystectomy

Purpose: Level I evidence supports the usefulness of neoadjuvant cisplatin based chemotherapy for muscle invasive bladder cancer. Since dose dense MVAC (methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin) has mostly replaced traditional MVAC, we compared pathological response and survival rates in patients with locally advanced bladder cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy with dose dense MVAC vs gemcitabine and cisplatin.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients with urothelial cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and underwent cystectomy at a total of 20 contributing institutions from 2000 to 2015. Patients with cT3-4aN0M0 disease were selected for this analysis. The rates of ypT0N0 and ypT1N0 or less were compared between the gemcitabine and cisplatin, and dose dense MVAC regimens. Two multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models of overall mortality were generated using preoperative and postoperative data.Results: Of the patients who underw...