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.