Chemoimmunotherapy for prophylaxis of recurrence in superficial bladder cancer: interferon-alpha 2b versus interferon-alpha 2b with epirubicin.

: Eighty-five patients who had undergone transurethral resection (TUR) of superficial bladder cancer were randomized to one of two treatments. Patients in Group 1 received a 10-month course of intravesical therapy with interferon (IFN)-alpha 2b (50 MU dose), commencing 21 days after TUR once a week for 8 weeks, then once every 15 days for 4 months and then finally once a month for 4 months. Patients in Group 2 received epirubicin (80 mg) intravesically 0, 24 and 48 h after TUR, and then 21 days after TUR received IFN-alpha 2b as for Group 1. The results confirmed the efficacy of immunoprophylaxis with IFN-alpha 2b, and early treatment with epirubicin tended to further reduce the percentage of relapses and extended the disease-free interval.