The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of paclitaxel following a first-line cisplatin regimen in patients with metastatic bladder cancer. The present study retrospectively evaluated the clinical effects and toxicities of second-line paclitaxel regimens following first-line cisplatin treatment in metastatic bladder cancer. A total of 42 patients with progressing metastatic urothelial bladder cancer following cisplatin-based chemotherapy were enrolled. The patients received weekly treatment with paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) with a median duration of 3 months. The overall response rate, disease control rate and median progression free survival were 9.5, 45.2 and 6.4 months, respectively. Weekly paclitaxel was well-tolerated with rare grade III or IV toxicities. Second-line weekly paclitaxel treatment following first-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy is an effective and well-tolerated regimen in urothelial metastatic bladder cancer.
Keywords: neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio; overall survival; paclitaxel; toxicity; urothelial cancer.