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Review
. 2013;15(4):145-53.

Intracavitary immunotherapy and chemotherapy for upper urinary tract cancer: current evidence

Luca Carmignani  1 , Roberto Bianchi  2 , Gabriele Cozzi  3 , Angelica Grasso  3 , Nicola Macchione  4 , Carlo Marenghi  1 , Sara Melegari  2 , Marco Rosso  3 , Elena Tondelli  5 , Augusto Maggioni  3
Affiliations
Review

Intracavitary immunotherapy and chemotherapy for upper urinary tract cancer: current evidence

Luca Carmignani et al. Rev Urol. 2013.

Abstract

A review of the literature was performed to summarize current evidence regarding the efficacy of topical immunotherapy and chemotherapy for upper urinary tract urothelial cell carcinoma (UUT-UCC) in terms of post-treatment recurrence rates. A Medline database literature search was performed in March 2012 using the terms upper urinary tract, urothelial cancer, bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and mitomycin C. A total of 22 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility, and 19 studies reporting the outcomes of patients who underwent immunotherapy or chemotherapy with curative or adjuvant intent for UUT-UCC were chosen for quantitative analysis. Overall, the role of immunotherapy and chemotherapy for UUT-UCC is not firmly established. The most established practice is the treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) with BCG, even if a significant advantage has not yet been proven. The use of BCG as adjuvant therapy after complete resection of papillary UUT-UCC has been studied less extensively, even if recurrence rates are not significantly different than after the treatment of CIS. Only a few reports describe the use of mitomycin C, making it difficult to obtain significant evidence.

Keywords: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin; Chemotherapy; Immunotherapy; Mitomycin C; Upper urinary tract; Urothelial cell carcinoma.

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