The effects of intravesical therapy with elemene in preventing postoperative recurrence of bladder cancer

To investigate the effects of intravesical therapy with elemene in preventing postoperative recurrence of superficial bladder cancer and its toxic and side effects.Methods This series included 123 patients with superficial bladder cancer (T1),consisting of transitional cell carcinoma GⅠ in 37 cases,GⅡ in 73 and GⅢ in 13.They all underwent surgical treatment.Postoperatively,they were randomly assigned to 2 groups;63 patients in elemene group received instillation of elemene (400 mg,once a week) 2 weeks after operation and 60 patients in mitomycin C (MMC) group received instillation of MMC (40 mg,once a week) 2 weeks after operation.The instillations were repeated for 6 weeks and thereafter monthly for 1 year.The recurrence rates,side effects,and NK cell activity before and after treatment were evaluated.Results The recurrence rate of elemene group (mean follow-up of 19.7 months) was 7.9% (5 cases),which was significantly lower than that (25.0%,15 cases) of MMC group (mean follow-up of 19.4 months;P<0.05).The side effect in elemene group (3.2%,2 cases) was significantly milder than that in MMC group (25.0%,15 cases)(P<0.05).In elemene group,the NK cell activity after treatment (28±2)% was significantly higher than that before treatment(20±2)%(P<0.05).Conclusion Instillation of elemene after operation is effective and safe in preventing postoperative recurrence of bladder cancer.8 refs.