Comparative Effectiveness Analysis of Treatment Strategies for Surgically Resectable Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Urinary Tract.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (neoCTX) has been recommended as the optimal strategy in surgically resectable neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of the urinary tract (NEC-URO).

To determine the systemic therapy regimen and timing, which are most active against NEC-URO.

We used our institutional historical clinical and pathological database to study 203 patients (cT2, 74%; cT3/4a, 22%; and cTx, 4%) with surgically resectable NEC-URO between November 1985 and May 2020. A total of 141 patients received neoCTX and 62 underwent initial radical surgery, 24 of whom received adjuvant CTX (adjCTX).

Neoadjuvant CTX with etoposide/cisplatin (EP), an alternating doublet of ifosfamide/doxorubicin (IA) and EP, dose-dense methotrexate/vinblastine/doxorubicin/cisplatin (MVAC), gemcitabine/cisplatin (GC), or others.

Overall survival (OS), downstaging rate, and pathological complete response using a multivariable model adjusting for tumor- and patient-related factors.

Downstaging rate was significantly improved with neoCTX versus initial surgery (49.6% vs 14.5%, p < 0.0001), stage cT2N0 versus cT3/4N0 (44% vs 25%, p = 0.01), or presence of carcinoma in situ (47% vs 28%, p = 0.01). Downstaging was greatest with IA/EP (65%) versus EP (39%), MVAC/GC (27%), or others (36%, p = 0.04). After adjusting for age and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, IA/EP was still associated with improved downstaging (odds ratio = 3.7 [1.3-10.2], p = 0.01). At a median follow-up of 59.7 mo, 5-yr OS rates for neoCTX followed by surgery, surgery alone, and surgery followed by adjCTX were 57%, 22%, and 30%, respectively. An NEC regimen (IA/EP or EP) versus a urothelial regimen (MVAC/GC or others) was associated with improved survival (145.4 vs 42.5 mo, hazard ratio = 0.49, 95% confidence interval: 0.25-0.94).

Neoadjuvant CTX remains the standard-of-care treatment for NEC-URO with an advantage for NEC regimens over traditional urothelial regimens. IA/EP improves pathological downstaging at the time of surgery compared with EP, but is reserved for younger and higher function patients.

In this report, we looked at the outcomes from invasive neuroendocrine carcinoma of the urinary tract in a large US population. We found that the outcomes varied with treatment strategy. We conclude that the best outcomes are seen in patients treated with chemotherapy prior to surgery and regimens tailored to histology and tolerance.

European urology oncology. 2023 Oct 11 [Epub]

Omar Alhalabi, Nathaniel Wilson, Lianchun Xiao, Yiyun Lin, Jaanki Khandelwal, Mohammad Jad Moussa, Pavlos Msaouel, Neema Navai, Jianjun Gao, Ashish M Kamat, Patrick Pilie, Amishi Y Shah, Sangeeta Goswami, Surena Matin, Craig Kovitz, Vijaykumar Holla, Charles Guo, Bogdan Czerniak, Christopher Logothetis, Paul G Corn, Colin P N Dinney, Matthew T Campbell, Donna E Hansel, Nizar M Tannir, Arlene O Siefker-Radtke

Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: ., Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Houston, McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, USA., Department of Statistics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA., Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA., Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA; David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA., Department of Urology, Division of Surgery, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA., Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA., Department of Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA., Division of Pathology-Lab Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA., Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: .

Read an Expert Commentary by Bishoy Faltas, MD