Photodynamic diagnosis in patients with T1G3 bladder cancer: influence on recurrence rate

Is photodynamic diagnosis ready for introduction in urological clinical practice?

The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date review of the available literature on photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) for nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer, to present the technique in a comprehensive approach and, finally, to discuss the relevance of PDD in clinical practice in terms of indications, outcomes and its development trend. A literature search was conducted up to July 2012, using MEDLINE and EMBASE via Ovid databases to identify published studies on PDD for nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer. Only English-language and human-based full manuscripts that reported on case series and studies with >40 participants, concerning clinical evidence of the technique, its efficacy and safety data were included. Evidence showed that PDD significantly improves detection of bladder cancer compared with standard white-light cystoscopy, having proven to be more effective for the diagnosis of carcinoma in situ. This condition seems to facilitate more complete resections, resulting in a lower residual tumor rate, which, in turn consecutively leads to higher recurrence-free survival rates. The literature search demonstrated that for mid- and long-term follow-up, PDD showed acceptable outcomes in terms of tumor detection, as well as lower residual tumor and lower recurrence rates compared with white-light cystoscopy. It has proven to be safe and well tolerated; the major limitations of PDD are its low specificity and elevated costs.

Value of fluorescence cystoscopy in high risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

Photodynamic Diagnosis (PDD), an adjunct to white light cystoscopy, has been shown to improve detection and thoroughness of resection of bladder cancer by enhancing visualisation of malign lesions during transurethral resection of bladder tumours (TURBT) compared to the sole use of standard white light cystoscopy. The PDD also has been shown to improve recurrence of free survival in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Little data on its impact on outcome in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer of high risk of progression is available however. The few trials and studies available demonstrate improved accuracy of diagnosis especially of flat malign lesions. In addition, improved recurrence rates have been suggested without an impact on progression rates in early invasive bladder cancer indicating little influence of thoroughness of resection on the tumour biology in those tumour stages. While no specific and larger data on impact of PDD on cancer specific survival exist to date and the few long-term data suggest little impact, improved accuracy of diagnosis is suggested to be beneficial for clinical decision making and thus a value of PDD is postulated in the management of high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Photodynamic diagnosis of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer with hexaminolevulinate cystoscopy: a meta-analysis of detection and recurrence based on raw data

BACKGROUND

Studies on hexaminolevulinate (HAL) cystoscopy report improved detection of bladder tumours. However, recent meta-analyses report conflicting effects on recurrence.

OBJECTIVE

To assess available clinical data for blue light (BL) HAL cystoscopy on the detection of Ta/T1 and carcinoma in situ (CIS) tumours, and on tumour recurrence.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This meta-analysis reviewed raw data from prospective studies on 1345 patients with known or suspected non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

INTERVENTION

A single application of HAL cystoscopy was used as an adjunct to white light (WL) cystoscopy.

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

We studied the detection of NMIBC (intention to treat [ITT]: n=831; six studies) and recurrence (per protocol: n=634; three studies) up to 1 yr. DerSimonian and Laird's random-effects model was used to obtain pooled relative risks (RRs) and associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for outcomes for detection.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

BL cystoscopy detected significantly more Ta tumours (14.7%; p<0.001; odds ratio [OR]: 4.898; 95% CI, 1.937-12.390) and CIS lesions (40.8%; p<0.001; OR: 12.372; 95% CI, 6.343-24.133) than WL. There were 24.9% patients with at least one additional Ta/T1 tumour seen with BL (p<0.001), significant also in patients with primary (20.7%; p<0.001) and recurrent cancer (27.7%; p<0.001), and in patients at high risk (27.0%; p<0.001) and intermediate risk (35.7%; p=0.004). In 26.7% of patients, CIS was detected only by BL (p<0.001) and was also significant in patients with primary (28.0%; p<0.001) and recurrent cancer (25.0%; p<0.001). Recurrence rates up to 12 mo were significantly lower overall with BL, 34.5% versus 45.4% (p=0.006; RR: 0.761 [0.627-0.924]), and lower in patients with T1 or CIS (p=0.052; RR: 0.696 [0.482-1.003]), Ta (p=0.040; RR: 0.804 [0.653-0.991]), and in high-risk (p=0.050) and low-risk (p=0.029) subgroups. Some subgroups had too few patients to allow statistically meaningful analysis. Heterogeneity was minimised by the statistical analysis method used.

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis confirms that HAL BL cystoscopy significantly improves the detection of bladder tumours leading to a reduction of recurrence at 9-12 mo. The benefit is independent of the level of risk and is evident in patients with Ta, T1, CIS, primary, and recurrent cancer.

Perioperative management of nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The management of nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer is a challenge. Despite current guidelines, the treatment is suboptimal as illustrated by the high risk of recurrence and progression. Transurethral resection plays a pivotal role in the management of bladder cancer, but the quality varies dramatically. In this review, we discuss the latest developments that aim to improve the outcome of a transurethral resection such as photodynamic diagnosis, a second resection and adjuvant therapy.

RECENT FINDINGS

The treatment of a bladder cancer patient can be improved, for example, with a standard second resection in a subset of the patients or the use of visual enhancement techniques. There is conflicting data on the clinical value of techniques like photodynamic diagnosis, as it does not always seem to translate into a better long-term outcome. Comparison of studies is difficult because of differences in patient selection and endpoints. Better classification in (personalized) risk categories may facilitate the treatment choice and prediction of the long-term outcome.

SUMMARY

The outcome of bladder cancer patients can be improved. A good-quality transurethral resection of the bladder tumor is crucial and novel technological developments may improve the outcome, but they remain the subject of discussion.

[The role and method of fluorescence-guided cystoscopy in 2011 for management of bladder cancer: Review of the Oncology Committee of the French Urology Association]

AIM

Fluorescence-guided cystoscopy is a useful tool for bladder tumour detection in association with white-light cystoscopy and decreases the residual tumour rate. The aim of the study was to provide an overview of the pertinent literature on this subject.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The data were provide from a Medline(®) research by using the follow keywords: urinary bladder neoplasms; cystoscopy; fluorescence; prognosis; intraepithelial neoplasm.

RESULTS

No evidence 1 level data was available. The fluorescence-guided cystoscopy improves the bladder cancer detection rate, especially the flat lesions, and improve the recurrence-free survival by decreasing the residual tumour rate. The specific indications for fluorescence-guided cystoscopy in the diagnosis and management of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) should benefit the patients.

CONCLUSION

The fluorescence-guided cystoscopy is a benefical tool in association with white-light cystoscopy in NMIBC diagnosis. It has been shown to have a positive impact on recurrence-free survival but not on progression-free survival. More investigations with significant follow-up should be lead in the future to accurately assess its therapeutic impact on patients.

Comparison between intravesical and oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid in the clinical benefit of photodynamic diagnosis for nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer

BACKGROUND

This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical value of photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) with intravesical and oral instillation of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) (ALA-PDD), and transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) guided by ALA-PDD (PDD-TURBT) for nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer.

METHODS

Of all 210 cases, 75 underwent PDD with intravesically applied ALA, and 135 cases underwent PDD with orally applied ALA. Diagnostic accuracy was evaluated by comparing the level on images of ALA-induced fluorescence with the pathological result. PDD-TURBT was performed in 99 completely resectable cases corresponding to 210 ALA-PDD cases. To evaluate the abilities of PDD-TURBT, survival analysis regarding intravesical recurrence was retrospectively compared with the historical control cases that underwent conventional TURBT.

RESULTS

The diagnostic accuracy and capability of ALA-PDD were significantly superior to those of conventional endoscopic examination. Moreover, 72.1% of flat lesions, including dysplasia and carcinoma in situ, could be detected only by ALA-PDD. The recurrence-free survival rate in the cases that underwent PDD-TURBT was significantly higher than that of conventional TURBT. Moreover, multivariate analysis revealed that the only independent factor contributing to improving prognosis was PDD-TURBT (hazard ratio, 0.578; P = .012). Regardless of the ALA administration route, there was no significant difference in diagnostic accuracy, ability of PDD, or recurrence-free survival. All procedures were well tolerated by all patients without any severe adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS

This multicenter study is likely to be biased, because it is limited by the retrospective analysis. This study suggests that regardless of the ALA administration route, ALA-PDD and PDD-TURBT are remarkably helpful in detection and intraoperative navigation programs.