Objectives: To determine whether the failure of chemotherapy in patients with regionally metastatic or unresectable transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder can be predicted early in the course of chemotherapy with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.
Methods: In this prospective study, 36 patients with regionally metastatic or unresectable TCC of the urinary bladder underwent MR imaging before and after two, four, and six cycles of chemotherapy with Methotrexate, Vinblastine, Adriamycin (doxorubicin) and Cisplatin (MVAC). The response after two cycles of MVAC was evaluated by using conventional tumour size parameters with unenhanced MR imaging and with changes in the time to the start of tumour or lymph node enhanced at fast dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging. The results obtained with these techniques were compared with the findings at histopathology in cystectomy or transurethral resection specimens that were obtained after chemotherapy. Duration of survival was defined as the time from the start of chemotherapy until disease-specific death. Kaplan-Meier curves were drawn to determine the difference in prognosis between responders and nonresponders.
Results: After two cycles of chemotherapy, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in distinguishing responders from nonresponders with conventional MR imaging were 69%, 81%, and 50%, respectively. With the fast dynamic contrast-enhanced technique, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 92%, 91%, and 93% respectively. The median bladder cancer specific survival was 28 months for all patients studied. Responders to chemotherapy at fast dynamic contrast-enhanced MR had better median disease-specific survival than nonresponders (42 months vs. 12 months [p<0.0001]).
Conclusion: We can predict whether a patient will respond to chemotherapy after two cycles of chemotherapy with fast dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging.