Conditions: Urothelial Cancer Bladder Cancer
Keywords: Urothelial Bladder Cancer
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 1
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The main purpose of this study is to look at the cancer-free survival at two years of subjects with high risk upper tract urothelial cancer when treated with the combination of two chemotherapy drugs called Gemcitabine and Cisplatin followed by surgery to remove the kidney, all or part of the ureter (ureters are tubes made of smooth muscle fibers that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder), and a cuff of bladder where the ureter drains into the bladder. Other purposes of the study include looking at the safety of Gemcitabine and Cisplatin before surgery for this type of cancer, time to recurrence of cancer, and overall survival.

Exploratory integrative tumor sequencing:

The purpose of this part of the study is to test deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) in various types of samples (tissue and blood) to detect different types of cancer genetic changes in upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) to help develop future studies in UTUC. DNA and RNA contain key instructions for cell function and help determine the characteristics of each individual such as hair, eye, and skin color, height, susceptibility to diseases, and other characteristics.

Detailed description:
In recent years, the combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin given every 21 days (gemcitabine on days 1 and 8 only) has been used in trials and routine clinical practice. Additionally, surgery, primarily radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) with bladder cuff removal, is the current standard treatment for invasive upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

Upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) or urothelial cancer arising in the pelvicalyceal or ureteral locations is a lethal cancer accounting for 5% of all urothelial cancers. In urothelial cancer of the bladder, randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses have shown a survival advantage with neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy. It is conceivable that a similar approach may benefit patients with UTUC.

Both Gemcitabine and Cisplatin are approved by the FDA. Cisplatin is approved for use in urothelial cancer. Gemcitabine is FDA approved to be used alone or with other drugs to treat breast, non-small lung, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers. Gemcitabine is not approved by the FDA for urothelial cancer, but it is typically used together with Cisplatin in trials and routine clinical practice for treating urothelial cancer.

Exploratory integrative tumor sequencing:

The biology of UTUC is poorly understood due to the relative rarity of the disease and the lack of comprehensive genomic and translational studies. This trial offers a rare opportunity to apply high-throughput sequencing techniques in UTUC to detect several classes of cancer mutations including structural rearrangements, copy number alterations, point mutations, and gene expression alterations. This research could help to develop future studies in UTUC to help researchers understand more about UTUC and how to treat it. Additionally, we may identify a potentially important result from DNA samples from subjects that could possibly help manage their cancer better by pursing a different cancer therapy rather than the study therapy.

Arms:
arm 1: Cisplatin 70 mg/m2 through IV for 60 minutes on day 1 of each cycle. Gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 IV for 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 during each cycle. Treatment is expected to continue for up to 4 cycles. Chemotherapy will be followed by radical nephroureterectomy within 6 weeks (+/- 2 weeks) from the last date of chemotherapy.

Interventions: intervention 1: Neoadjuvant Cisplatin and Gemcitabine
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Cisplatin 70 mg/m2 through IV for 60 minutes on day 1 of each cycle. Gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 IV for 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 during each cycle. Treatment is expected to continue for up to 4 cycles. Chemotherapy will be followed by radical nephroureterectomy within 6 weeks (+/- 2 weeks) from the last date of chemotherapy.

Protocol document: