Intravenous (IV) Vitamin C With Chemotherapy for Cisplatin Ineligible Bladder Cancer Patients

Bladder cancer is a common disease with high rates of mortality, especially at advanced stages. Neo-adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy (NAC) followed by radical cystectomy is considered standard of care for patients with muscle invasive disease, as NAC improves surgical outcomes in these patients. However, some patients are ineligible for cisplatin-based chemotherapy due to other medical issues. Although a combination of carboplatin and gemcitabine has been used with limited success, most patients proceed directly to cystectomy without realizing the potential survival benefit afforded by NAC. Intravenous ascorbate (vitamin C) administration (IVC) has been shown to improve both carboplatin and gemcitabine-based therapy in other models. This trial will add IVC to gemcitabine/carboplatin chemotherapy to evaluate whether co-treatment will increase therapeutic efficacy.