Gefitinib Plus Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Locally Advanced or Metastatic Bladder Cancer

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To describe the overall response proportion in patients with advanced carcinoma of the urothelial tract treated with cisplatin, gemcitabine (gemcitabine hydrochloride) and ZD1839 (gefitinib), given on a 21 day schedule, followed by maintenance ZD1839. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To describe the time to progression, progression-free survival, and overall survival in patients with advanced carcinoma of the urothelial tract treated with cisplatin, gemcitabine and ZD1839, given on a 21 day schedule, followed by maintenance ZD1839. II. To evaluate the effect of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression level on overall response rate and progression-free survival in patients with advanced carcinoma of the urothelial tract treated with cisplatin, gemcitabine and ZD1839, given on a 21 day schedule, followed by maintenance ZD1839. III. To assess the toxicity of the combination of cisplatin, gemcitabine and ZD1839 given on a 21 day schedule, followed by maintenance ZD1839 in patients with advanced carcinoma of the urothelial tract. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients receive gemcitabine intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 and cisplatin IV over 1 hour on day 1. Patients also receive gefitinib orally (PO) once daily (QD) beginning on day 1. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients who achieve complete remission, partial remission, or maintain stable disease continue gefitinib PO QD for 5 years or until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurs. Patients are followed at least every 3 months for 1 year and then at least every 6 months until disease progression or relapse.