Evaluation of response to gemcitabine plus cisplatin-based chemotherapy using positron emission computed tomography for metastatic bladder cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUNDThe purpose of the present study was to examine retrospectively the contribution of (18)Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomography ((18)FDG-PET/CT) to the evaluation of response to first-line gemcitabine plus cisplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with metastatic bladder cancer. AIMTo evaluate the response to Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin -based chemotherapy using (18)FDG-PET/CT imaging in patients with metastatic bladder cancer. METHODSBetween July 2007 and April 2019, 79 patients underwent (18)FDG-PET/CT imaging with the diagnosis of Metastatic Bladder Carcinoma (M-BCa). A total of 42 patients (38 male, 4 female) were included in the study, and all had been administered Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin-based chemotherapy. After completion of the therapy, the patients underwent a repeat (18)FDG-PET/CT scan and the results were compared with the PET/CT findings before chemotherapy according to European Organisation for the Research and treatment of cancer criteria. Mean age was 66.1 years and standard deviation was 10.7 years (range: 41-84 years). RESULTSOf the patients, seven (16.6%) were in complete remission, 17 (40.5%) were in partial remission, six (14.3%) had a stable disease, and 12 (28.6%) had a progressive disease. The overall response rate was 57.1 percent. CONCLUSION(18)FDG-PET/CT can be considered as a successful imaging tool in evaluating response to first-line chemotherapy for metastatic bladder cancer. Anatomical and functional data obtained from PET/CT scans may be useful in the planning of secondline and thirdline chemotherapy.