Survival in Responders and Nonresponders of Neoadjuvant and Induction Chemotherapy in Invasive Urothelial Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder: A Clinical and Pathological Stage-Matched Analysis

Daan J. Reesink*, Charlotte S. Voskuilen, Ewoudt M.W. van de Garde, Kees Hendricksen, Simon Horenblas, Harm H.E. van Melick, Bas W.G. van Rhijn

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Introduction/Background: A recent study reported that patients with residual urothelial carcinoma of the bladder subsequent to neoadjuvant/induction chemotherapy (NAIC) prior to RC exhibited inferior oncological outcomes in comparison to pathological stage-matched patients who underwent upfront RC. Our hypothesis is that this may be ascribed to variations in preoperative CT-stage rather than the impact of chemotherapy. Patients and Methods: This retrospective multicentre study included 513 patients who underwent RC for cT2-4N0-3M0 disease between 2010 and 2017. Patients were categorized based on pathological outcomes: pathological complete response (pCR, (y)pT0N0), complete downstaging (pCD, (y)pT0/is/a/1N0) and residual muscle-invasive and/or node positive disease (rMIBC, (y)pT2-4N0 and/or (y)pN1-3). Results: Of the total cohort, 175 (34.1%) patients underwent NAIC+RC, while 338 (65.9%) underwent upfront RC. NAIC+RC patients exhibited lower age and CCI-scores, along with higher cT&N-stage (all P-values < .001). The mOS was 60.5 months for NAIC+RC and 49.4 months for upfront RC (P-value = .171). In patients with rMIBC, survival was inferior after NAIC+RC compared to upfront RC. However, the clinical stage distribution between NAIC+RC and upfront RC was imbalanced, with 3% versus 49% cT2N0 patients and 47% versus 9% cT4b and/or N+ patients, respectively. Following adjustments for cT & N-stage, age, and CCI-scores in multivariable Cox proportional-hazards analysis, worse OS was associated with upfront RC (HR 1.52, [95% CI, 1.11-2.10], P-value = .009). Conclusion: The observed inferior survival in cT2-4N0-3M0 patients with rMIBC after NAIC+RC compared to those undergoing upfront RC resulted from worse preoperative characteristics, including clinical stage. The representation of clinical disease stage should not be overlooked in survival analyses.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102319
JournalClinical Genitourinary Cancer
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 21 Feb 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

  • Bladder carcinoma
  • Invasive bladder cancer
  • Muscle invasive
  • Radical cystectomy
  • Systemic therapy response

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