Consent Statement:
Written informed consent was obtained from the patient to publish this report in accordance with the journal’s patient consent policy
Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Funding Sources: There were no funding sources.
Abstract
Bladder cancer treatment remains a challenge to every oncologist. We report the case of a 57-year-old man with BCG-refractory bladder cancer, who had a complete response to the intravesical Gemcitabine to shine the light on the role of Gemcitabine as a bladder sparing treatment in BCG-failure patients.
Introduction
Bladder cancer is the 10th most common cancer worldwide and has a steadily increasing incidence [1]. It is more common among men, for whom it ranks the 6th most diagnosed and the 9th most fatal cancer [1]. At presentation, 75% of cases confined to the urothelium or lamina propria (non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, NMIBC) [2]. Then, the initial treatment includes a transurethral resection (TUR) followed by an intravesical adjuvant therapy with Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) for intermediate and high-risk patients [3]. In case of BCG failure, radical cystectomy is the standard of care in high-risk patients. However, many of them are unfit or refuse to undergo such an intervention, so other treatment options are required [4]. Herein, we report the case of a bladder cancer patient who had a complete response to intravesical gemcitabine after BCG failure, to highlight the potential effectiveness of gemcitabine as a bladder sparing treatment in BCG-failure patients who cannot undergo or refuse surgery.