Review
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World J Radiol. Aug 28, 2013; 5(8): 267-274
Published online Aug 28, 2013. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v5.i8.267
Radio-chemotherapy for bladder cancer: Contribution of chemotherapy on local control
George A Plataniotis, Roger G Dale
George A Plataniotis, Department of Oncology, Queens Hospital, Essex RM7 0AG, United Kingdom
Roger G Dale, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Plataniotis GA and Dale RG contributed equally to this paper.
Correspondence to: George A Plataniotis, MD, PhD, Department of Oncology, Queens Hospital, Rom Valley Way, Romford, Essex RM7 0AG, United Kingdom. george.plataniotis@nhs.net
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Received: April 27, 2013
Revised: July 18, 2013
Accepted: August 4, 2013
Published online: August 28, 2013
Processing time: 122 Days and 20.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Chemotherapy is adding approximately an extra 10% to local control rates obtained with radiotherapy alone in the treatment of invasive bladder carcinoma. It seems that potential for radiosensitization by chemotherapy may have reached a plateau. The best achievable tumour control rates, with an acceptable rate of side effects are around 70%. Further increase in complete response response rates demands for new combinations, chemotherapeutic agents or modified fractionation.