Effectiveness of capecitabine with or without docetaxel therapy for the treatment of patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma: a single-institution experience

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and toxicity of capecitabine (C) chemotherapy regimen with or without (w/o) docetaxel (D) in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC). RESULTS: Clinical benefit rate were similar in two arms (C arm vs DC arm: 38.9% vs 45.5%, p = 0.411). There were two cases achieved partial response in DC arm. In C arm, the median PFS was 3.0 months (95% CI 2.5–3.5 months) and median OS was 11.3 months (95% CI 8.6–14.1 months). In DC arm, the median PFS was 2.2 months (95% CI 1.7–2.7 months) and median OS was 18 months (95% CI 6.8–29.9 months). Adverse events were mostly acceptable, including myelosuppession, hand-foot syndrome and mucositis. Anemia and leukopenia was found more in the DC arm than in the C arm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a one-center, observational, retrospective study. From April 2009 to March 2015, a total of 29 patients with metastatic UC were included in the study. Survivals, response rates and toxicities were collected retrospectively. CONCLUSIONS: The result showed the activity and toxicity of C w/o D. As DC treatment did not reveal better outcome, C or D single-agent might be an option in platinum-failed patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma. Further clinical trials are warranted.