Abstract
— We report the results of a retrospective study of two groups of patients affected by locally advanced bladder cancer: the first group was submitted to adjuvant chemotherapy with Cisplatin and Methotrexate after cystectomy and the second group was submitted to neoadjuvant chemotherapy with the same scheme following radical cystectomy. The validity of the study is given by the homogeneity of the two groups for period of recruitment, number of patients, patient's age, stage of disease and treatment. The overall survival of 5 years in the first group was 30%, while the 5-year survival rate of the second group was 38%, 63% and 17% for all the patients, the responders and the nonresponders respectively. No significant difference in terms of survival was found between the two groups, but the results of the neoadjuvant approach may be influenced by clinical staging errors. The chemosensitivity, that can be assessed only with the neoadjuvant treatment, is the main prognostic factor.
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