Controversy still exists regarding efficacy of multimodality treatment (MMT) vs. radical cystectomy (RC) for urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder (UCUB).
Within the SEER database (2004-2016), we retrospectively identified patients with stage T2N0M0 UCUB. Competing risks regression (CRR) tested cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and adjusted for other-cause mortality after MMT vs. RC. Exact matching for age was applied. Subgroup analyses focused on differences in chemotherapy or lymph node dissection rates. In sensitivity analyses, we accounted for 40% understaging rate in patients who underwent MMT.
Of 9862 patients with T2N0M0 UCUB, 2675 (27.1%) underwent MMT vs. 5751 (58.3%) RC vs. 1436 (14.6%) radiotherapy (RT) without chemotherapy. MMT rate increased (annually +3.0%, P < .01) and MMT patient age was significantly higher (median 77 years) than RC patient age (68 years). In exact age-matched analyses, 10-year CSM rates were 44.3% vs. 25.9% for MMT vs. RC (multivariate hazard ratio [HR] 0.48); 44.1% vs. 22.8% for MMT vs. RC with chemotherapy (HR 0.43); 40.5% vs. 31.1% for MMT vs. RC without lymph node dissection (HR 0.66), and 55.6% vs. 27.3% for RT without chemotherapy vs. RC (HR 0.37, all P < .001). Sensitivity analyses that addressed understaging of patients who underwent MMT resulted in virtually the same CSM rates.
In patents with T2N0M0, MMT or even more so RT alone may be associated with higher CSM than RC, even in exact age-matched multivariate CRR analyses, which adjust for other-cause mortality. In consequence, patients with T2 UCUB should be informed of this possible CSM disadvantage outside of highly specialized centers.
Clinical genitourinary cancer. 2021 Apr 08 [Epub ahead of print]
Marina Deuker, Marieke J Krimphove, L Franziska Stolzenbach, Claudia Collà Ruvolo, Luigi Nocera, Mila Mansour, Zhe Tian, Frederik C Roos, Andreas Becker, Luis A Kluth, Shahrokh F Shariat, Peter C Black, Wassim Kassouf, Derya Tilki, Fred Saad, Felix K H Chun, Pierre I Karakiewicz
Department of Urology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Electronic address: ., Department of Urology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany., Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada; Martini-Klinik Prostate Cancer Center, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany., Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Urology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy., Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Urology and Division of Experimental Oncology, URI, Urological Research Institute, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy., Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada., Department of Urology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Institute for Urology and Reproductive Health, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia; Department of Urology, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan., Department of Urologic Sciences, Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada., Department of Urology, McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Québec, Canada., Martini-Klinik Prostate Cancer Center, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.