Adjuvant bestatin (Ubenimex) treatment following full-dose local irradiation for bladder carcinoma

The clinical value of adjuvant bestatin (Ubenimex) immunotherapy has been examined in a group of patients with urinary bladder cancer. Patients with non-metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, scheduled for full-dose local irradiation therapy (64 Gy), were randomly allocated to adjuvant oral bestatin treatment (30 mg daily for at least 1 year), starting at completion of irradiation, or no bestatin. The trial included 194 evaluable patients with a follow-up period of 1.5-9.5 years. The overall survival of the two groups of patients did not differ statistically significantly (97 patients in each). Subgrouping of the patient material gave no evidence that the clinical efficacy of bestatin is related to sex, tumor category or malignancy grade. (orig.)