Bladder preservation multimodality therapy as an alternative to radical cystectomy for treatment of muscle invasive bladder cancer

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? The subject of bladder preservation multimodality protocols in muscle invasive bladder TCC is not new. In our study, even in a highly selected group of patients, multimodality protocol with M-VAC and radiation therapy achieved suboptimal results at 1 year. This emphasized the role of radical cystectomy as the gold standard treatment for invasive bladder TCC. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of a bladder preservation multimodality protocol for patients with operable carcinoma invading bladder muscle. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this prospective study, we included 33 patients with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) (T2 and T3, Nx, M0) who were amenable to complete transurethral resection. These patients refused radical cystectomy as their first treatment option. After maximum transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT), all patients received three cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy in the form of methotrexate, vinblastin, adriamycin and cisplatin (MVAC) followed by radical radiotherapy. Four weeks later, all cases had radiological and cystoscopical re-evaluation. Complete responders were considered to be those patients who had no evidence of residual tumour. All patients were subjected to a regular follow-up by cystoscopy and tumour site biopsy conducted every 3 months. Abdomino-pelvic computed tomography and chest X-ray were conducted every 6 months. The study endpoint was the response to treatment after completion of the first year of follow-up after therapy. RESULTS Out of 33 eligible patients, a total of 28 patients completed the study treatment protocol. Their mean +/- SD age was 56.7 +/- 6 years. Trimodal therapy was well tolerated in most of cases, with no severe acute toxicities. After 12 months of follow-up, a complete response was achieved in 39.3\% and a partial response in 7.1\%, with an overall response rate of 46.4\%. By the end of the first year, disease-free survival was reported in 39.3\%, whereas 25\% were still alive with their disease, giving an overall survival of 64.3\% for all patients who maintained their intact, well functioning bladders. Tumour stage and completeness of transurethral resection of bladder tumour were the most important predictors of response and survival. T2 lesions had complete and partial response rates of 69.2\% and 23\%, respectively, whereas T3 lesions had rates of 40\% and 13.3\%, respectively (P = 0.001). The response rate in patients who had complete TURBT was 82.6\% vs 20\% in those with cystoscopic biopsy only (P = 0.001). In addition, disease-free survival was 72.7\% in T2 patients and 27.3\% in T3 patients (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION In the present study, bladder preservation protocol with MVAC and radical radiotherapy achieved suboptimal response rates at 1 year in patients with localized TCC invading bladder muscle. Patients with solitary T2 lesions that are amenable to complete TURBT achieved the best response rates. Longer follow-up is needed to verify these results. Patients with localized disease should be encouraged for radical cystectomy, which achieved better results.