Treating patients with invasive transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder remains difficult due to the multiple biological behaviour patterns found in this disease. There is still controversy regarding the use of systemic treatment in invasive bladder carcinoma and the ideal moment for launching perioperative chemotherapy. We present an overview of current trends for systemic treatment of invasive bladder carcinoma.

Using MEDLINE, we reviewed relevant English and Spanish language literature published during the last five years, with "chemotherapy in bladder cancer" as keywords. We selected randomized trials, meta−analyses and clinical trials.

We obtained a total of 241 articles. Thirty−one of them referred to neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy in invasive bladder cancer. We classified the articles in three different groups neoadjuvant, adjuvant and neoadjuvant plus chemotherapy. All of that information is displayed in the tables within the text.

A multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of invasive bladder cancer is essential to guarantee adequate oncological control. A detailed evaluation and proper selection of each patient is fundamental in determining the best moment to start chemotherapy.

PMID: 20096175 [PubMed − as supplied by publisher] Source: National Library of Medicine.