Adjuvant chemotherapy for high-risk urothelial transitional cell carcinoma: the Princess Margaret Hospital experience

Perioperative therapy for muscle invasive bladder cancer

Muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is an aggressive disease associated with poor survival rates. High rates of relapse, despite radical cystectomy, suggest that administration of systemic therapy in the perioperative period may improve clinical outcomes. Neoadjuvant treatment with cisplatin-based combination regimens is an established standard of care and has improved long-term survival in MIBC. As the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy steadily increases, clinicians still need to decide about administering adjuvant chemotherapy to patients with high-risk disease. This review examines in detail the latest evidence available for both neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy, and highlights pertinent studies.

[Pronostic value of parenchyma renal invasion of pT3 upper tract urinary carcinoma]

INTRODUCTION

Upper tract urinary carcinoma (UTUC) pT3 tumors are a heterogeneous entity including tumors invading the renal parenchyma, tumors with peripelvic fat invasion or peri-ureteral fat invasion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of these three different groups of pT3 tumors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Between 1998 and 2012, 205 patients with UTUC were operated in two centers, including 52 patients with pT3 tumor stage. pT3 tumors were divided into three groups: peri-ureteral fat invasion (pT3U, n = 16), peripelvic fat invasion (pT3G, n = 21), and renal parenchyma invasion (pT3P, n = 15). The prognostic significance of the type of tumor infiltration was evaluated on specific and disease-free survival.

RESULTS

Median follow-up was 18.9 months [6-133.4]. In univariate analysis, renal parenchyma invasion was associated with a better prognostic in both specific (P = 0.026) and disease-free survival (P = 0.031) compared with peripelvic or peri-ureteral fat invasion. Mutivariate analysis retained the pT3 subgroup as an independant prognostic factor in both specific and disease-free survival (P = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

pT3 tumors with renal parenchyma invasion had a better prognosis than those with peripelvic or peri-ureteral fat invasion. The heterogeneity of the pT3 group should be taken into account to improve the care of patients.

Upper tract urothelial carcinoma: current treatment and outcomes

The reference standard treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma is open radical nephroureterectomy. Many centers have advocated less-invasive treatment modalities. We reviewed contemporary treatments of upper tract urothelial carcinoma and their outcomes. A MEDLINE search was conducted for all relevant published data during the past 15 years. Endoscopic management is feasible for low-grade disease with strict surveillance protocols. Radical nephroureterectomy remains the reference standard for upper tract urothelial carcinoma. The intermediate-term oncologic outcomes are similar between the laparoscopic and open approaches. Controversies still exist regarding the optimal management of the distal ureter, the utility of topical therapy, and the role of lymphadenectomy.

Survival of patients with squamous cell malignancies of the upper urinary tract

Background

Carcinomas of the renal pelvis and ureter are rare diseases, accounting for only about 1% of all urogenital malignancies. Previous reports suggest that squamous cell histology is associated with inferior survival. We present the largest population based analysis to date of survival in patients with upper urinary tract malignancies.

Methods

We analyzed the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database for cancer specific survival rates in patients with renal pelvis and ureteral malignancies who were diagnosed between 1973 and 2003 in the SEER catchment geographic areas. The primary exposure of interest was the underlying histology, squamous cell versus transitional cell differentiation. We performed descriptive statistics, non parametric survival analysis, and cox proportional hazard analysis.

Results

We identified 13,213 eligible patients, 7,716 renal pelvis and 5,497 ureteral carcinomas. Among this cohort, 179 patients had squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 12,395 had transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), including 121 papillary, and 619 had other histologies. Overall, patients with SCC histology fared worse. The median overall survival time was 10 months for SCC and 63 months for TCC. The cox analysis revealed a HR 3.7 (95% CI 3.0–4.5) for SCC when compared to TCC and corrected for decade of diagnosis, age, gender, prior treatment, and race. The difference between the two groups was entirely attributable to survival differences in patients with loco-regional disease. However, when stratified by lymph node involvement this difference disappeared for patients with locally involved lymph nodes (P = 0.84) and for patients with clear lymph nodes (P = 0.92).

Conclusions

SCCs of the upper urinary tract present at a higher clinical stage and appear to represent more aggressive disease when compared to other histologies. However, when appropriately staged according to lymph node status, the survival of TCC and SCC of the upper urinary tract is identical when compared stage by stage.

Outcomes after adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of high-risk urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UUT-UC): results from a large multicenter collaborative study

BACKGROUND

Urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UUT-UC) was a rare, aggressive urologic cancer with a propensity for multifocality, local recurrence, and metastasis. High-risk patients had poor outcomes. Because of the rarity of these tumors, randomized clinical trials and data regarding adjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced tumors are currently unavailable. Our objective was to assess the effect of adjuvant chemotherapy and the impact of potential prognostic factors on survival in high-risk, postsurgical UUT-UC patients.

METHODS

Using a multi-institutional, international retrospective database, identified were 627 patients with high risk UUT-UCs (pT3N0, pT4N0 and/or N+ and/or M+) who underwent surgical removal. Only patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy were included.

RESULTS

Overall, 140 patients (22.6%) with a median age of 67 years were included. The median follow-up was 22.5 months. The 5-year, overall survival for the entire cohort was 43%, the 5-year recurrence-free survival was 54%, and metastasis-free survival was 53% at 5 years. Positive surgical margins were an independent prognostic factor for recurrence (P = .06), cancer-specific mortality (P = .05), and overall mortality (P = .02) of any cause. Adjuvant chemotherapy was not linked with overall or cancer-specific survival in patients with high risk disease (adjuvant chemotherapy [n = 140] vs no treatment [n = 487]) (P >.5).

CONCLUSIONS

Adjuvant postoperative chemotherapy did not offer any significant benefit to overall survival in our population. Additional data were necessary, and studies enrolling patients at high risk in clinical trials investigating neoadjuvant chemotherapy in conjunction with chemotherapy should have been highly encouraged.

Newer developments in the therapeutics of the transitional cell carcinoma of renal pelvis

Many of the risk factors and pathogenesis of urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis are similar to the ones of the more common urothelial bladder cancer. In addition, two endemic nephropathies and two inherited syndromes have been linked with the development of upper urologic cancer. Multiple synchronous or metachronous lesions throughout urinary tract are rather common and should always be sought in the management of this entity. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice in early-stage tumors. The role of adjuvant radiation and chemoradiation for carcinoma of the renal pelvis remains to be redefined, given the advent of conformal approaches and intensity modulation. In non-surgical candidates, chemotherapy remains the mainstay. Metastatic urothelial renal pelvic cancer is usually treated with combination platinum-based chemotherapy. Definitive radiation therapy should be considered in persons with locally advanced/unresectable disease, multiple comorbidities, and/or severely compromised performance status. Recently, the antifolate agent pemetrexed has demonstrated an overall response rate of circa 30% in urothelial carcinoma. New targeted agents, alone or in combination with cytotoxic drugs, are currently being tested in clinical trials and may lead to new and exciting avenues for the therapy of this disease.

The role of chemotherapy in the treatment of urothelial cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UUT-UCC)

OBJECTIVE

Urothelial cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UUT-UCC) is a rare, aggressive urologic cancer with a propensity for multifocality, local recurrence, and metastasis. This review highlights the main chemotherapy regimens available for UUT-UCCs based on the recent literature.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data on urothelial malignancies and UUT-UCCs management in the literature were searched using MEDLINE and by matching the following key words: urinary tract cancer; urothelial carcinomas; upper urinary tract; carcinoma; transitional cell; renal pelvis; ureter; bladder cancer; chemotherapy; nephroureterectomy; adjuvant treatment; neoadjuvant treatment; recurrence; risk factors; and survival.

RESULTS

No evidence level 1 information from prospective randomized trials was available. Because of its many similarities with bladder urothelial carcinomas, chemotherapy with a cisplatin-containing regimen is often proposed in patients with metastatic or locally advanced disease. Most teams have proposed a neoadjuvant or an adjuvant treatment based either on the combination of methotrexate, vinblastine, adriamycin, and cisplatin (MVAC) or on gemcitabine/cisplatin (GC). These regimens have been shown to prolong survival moderately. All recent studies have included limited numbers of patients and have reported poor patient outcomes after both neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy. Regarding metastatic UUT-UCCs, vinflunine has demonstrated moderate activity in these patients with a manageable toxicity. Interestingly, specific molecular markers [microsatellite instability (MSI), E-cadherin, HIF-1α, and RNA levels of the telomerase gene] can provide useful information that can help diagnose and determine patient prognosis in patients with UUT-UCC.

CONCLUSION

Chemotherapy with a cisplatin-containing regimen is often proposed in patients with metastatic or locally advanced disease. However, there is no strong evidence that chemotherapy is effective due to the rarity of the disease and the lack of data in the current literature. Thus, physicians must take into account the specific clinical characteristics of each individual patient with regard to renal function, medical comorbidities, tumor location, grade, and stage, and molecular marker status when determining the optimal treatment regimen for their patients. The ongoing identification of the oncologic mechanisms of this type of cancer might pave the way for the development of specific treatments that are targeted to the characteristics of each patient's tumor in the future.

Changes in renal function following nephroureterectomy may affect the use of perioperative chemotherapy

BACKGROUND

Nephroureterectomy alone fails to adequately treat many patients with advanced upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). Perioperative platinum-based chemotherapy has been proposed but requires adequate renal function.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to determine whether the ability to deliver platinum-based chemotherapy following nephroureterectomy is affected by postoperative changes in renal function.

DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS

We retrospectively reviewed data on 388 patients undergoing nephroureterectomy for UTUC between 1991 and 2009. Four institutions were included.

INTERVENTION

All patients underwent nephroureterectomy.

MEASUREMENTS

All patients had serum creatinine measured before and after surgery. The value closest to 3 mo after surgery was taken as the postoperative value (range: 2-52 wk). Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the abbreviated Modification of Diet in Renal Disease study equation. eGFR values before and after surgery were compared using the paired t test. We chose an eGFR of 45 and 60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) as possible cut-offs for chemotherapy eligibility and compared eligibility before and after surgery using the chi-square test.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

Our cohort of 388 patients included 233 men (60%) with a median age of 70 yr. Mean eGFR decreased by 24% after surgery. Using a cut-off of 60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2), 49% of patients were eligible for chemotherapy before surgery, but only 19% of patients remained eligible postoperatively. Using a cut-off of 45 ml/min per 1.73 m(2), 80% of patients were eligible preoperatively, but only 55% remained eligible after surgery. This distribution persisted when we limited the analysis to patients with advanced pathologic stage (T3 or higher). Patients older than the median age of 70 yr were more likely to be ineligible for chemotherapy both pre- and postoperatively by either definition, and they were significantly more likely to have an eGFR <45 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) postoperatively, regardless of their starting eGFR. This study is limited by its retrospective nature, and there was some variability in the timing of postoperative serum creatinine measurements.

CONCLUSIONS

eGFR is significantly diminished after nephroureterectomy, particularly in elderly patients. These changes in renal function likely affect eligibility for adjuvant cisplatin-based therapy. Accordingly, we suggest strong consideration of neoadjuvant regimens.

The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced (pT3, pT4a) and/or lymph node-positive bladder cancer

OBJECTIVE

To report the long-term follow up of patients with locally advanced bladder cancer treated with either adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine/cisplatin (GC) or methotrexate, vinblastine, epirubicin, and cisplatin (MVEC) or no additional treatment after radical cystectomy, to examine various survival endpoints and factors associated with long-term survival.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Seventy-eight patients undergoing radical cystectomy for pathologic stage T3, T4 or lymph node-positive (N+) bladder cancer were divided to observation group (46 patients) and adjuvant chemotherapy group (32 patients). Data were obtained for recurrence free (RFS) and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

One-, 2- and 5-year RFS rates were 74, 56.8 and 51.1% for chemotherapy arm, whereas these ratios were 50.6, 31 and 27.6% for control arm, respectively (P = 0.032). RFS rates were significantly better in patients with lymph node-negative disease than in those with positive lymph nodes for control arm (P = 0.007), but for the chemotherapy arm there was no statistical difference between patients with lymph node-negative and -positive disease (P = 0.28). Mean OS and RFS times were 31.03 and 28.4 months for chemotherapy arm, while they were 22.17 and 18.09 months for control arm, respectively (P = 0.142, P = 0.196). On multivariate analysis, lymph node metastasis and adjuvant chemotherapy remained significant independent prognostic factors for cancer-specific survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Bladder cancer is chemosensitive, and using adjuvant chemotherapy is likely to improve the outcome of local treatment and to decrease the rates of distant metastases.

Adjuvant chemotherapy for high risk upper tract urothelial carcinoma: results from the Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma Collaboration

PURPOSE

There is relatively little literature on adjuvant chemotherapy after radical nephroureterectomy in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma. We determined the incidence of adjuvant chemotherapy in high risk patients and the ensuing effect on overall and cancer specific survival.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Using an international collaborative database we identified 1,390 patients who underwent nephroureterectomy for nonmetastatic upper tract urothelial carcinoma between 1992 and 2006. Of these cases 542 (39%) were classified as high risk (pT3N0, pT4N0 and/or lymph node positive). These patients were divided into 2 groups, including those who did and did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy, and stratified by gender, age group, performance status, and tumor grade and stage. Cox proportional hazard modeling and Kaplan-Meier analysis were used to determine overall and cancer specific survival in the cohorts.

RESULTS

Of high risk patients 121 (22%) received adjuvant chemotherapy. Adjuvant chemotherapy was more commonly administered in the context of increased tumor grade and stage (p <0.001). Median survival in the entire cohort was 24 months (range 0 to 231). There was no significant difference in overall or cancer specific survival between patients who did and did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. However, age, performance status, and tumor grade and stage were significant predictors of overall and cancer specific survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Adjuvant chemotherapy is infrequently used to treat high risk upper tract urothelial carcinoma after nephroureterectomy. Despite this finding it appears that adjuvant chemotherapy confers minimal impact on overall or cancer specific survival in this group.

Adjuvant chemotherapy of bladder cancer

BACKGROUND

Bladder cancer is one of the most common genitourinary cancer. 1/3 of patients presents with invasive disease. Radical cystectomy is the standard treatment for patients with muscle invasive disease: although local treatment can be curative, about 50% of patients will develop distant metastases. Optimal treatment for high risk patients includes local and perioperative systemic therapy (adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We performed a review of clinical trials and metanalysis of adjuvant treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

RESULTS

Data from single published trials of adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) are not univocal, and several methodological problems were found. A recent meta-analysis of individual patient data (IPD) from all eligible published and unpublished trials, found that adjuvant chemotherapy administration provides a significant survival and disease free survival advantage. Two large, multi-center, randomized trials are on-going to clarify the role of post-operative CT.

CONCLUSIONS

A trend in favour of adjuvant chemotherapy comes out from some of the trials reviewed by us and by the metanalysis performed by the ABC collaborative group. However it is not clear yet which patients might derive the maximum benefit from such an approach and which ones might be safety candidate to deferred treatment, on relapse. The incoming results of the EORTC trial and of the Italian trial which are currently comparing the value of early vs. deferred treatment of patients at higher risk of relapse will probably provide an adequate answer to this question. Outside clinical trials, the potential benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy should be appropriately weighted versus the putative hazards and decision making appropriately tailored in the individual patients according to the aggressiveness of his/her disease and the presence of comorbidities.

Orthotopic ileal neobladder reconstruction for bladder cancer: is adjuvant chemotherapy safe?

OBJECTIVE

We examined our database of patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) with orthotopic neobladder (NB) to determine whether adjuvant chemotherapy in this group is safe.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent radical cystectomy and urinary diversion between 1992 and 2004. Relevant clinical and therapeutic data were entered into a database. High-risk bladder cancer patients who underwent NB were identified. They were stratified into 2 groups, those who received adjuvant chemotherapy and those who did not. The incidence of complications between the 2 groups was analyzed and compared.

RESULTS

Over the 12-year period, 136 patients underwent RC and NB construction for bladder cancer. Of these, 83 patients were at high risk for recurrence. Nineteen patients received adjuvant chemotherapy and 64 did not. The complication rate in the adjuvant chemotherapy group was 53% and it was 23% in those who did not receive chemotherapy. There were no perioperative or treatment related death. There were 2 patients with grade 4 toxicity in the adjuvant chemotherapy group. There was a statistical difference between these two groups with regard to the incidence of complications. However, none of these complications was life-threatening, required only conservative treatment and caused no long-term disability.

CONCLUSIONS

Adjuvant chemotherapy is a safe treatment for patients undergoing RC and NB substitution. Hence, the option of orthotopic NB should not be denied in selected bladder cancer patients with high risk for recurrent disease.

Is adjuvant chemotherapy for bladder cancer safer in patients with an ileal conduit than a neobladder?

OBJECTIVE

To assess the safety of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with neobladder reconstruction in comparison to ileal conduit, as radical cystectomy and urinary diversion is an effective curative surgical treatment for muscle-invasive and high-risk superficial bladder cancer, and adjuvant chemotherapy is usually considered for patients with clinical stage > T2 and nodal metastasis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We analysed retrospectively patients who had had a radical cystectomy and urinary diversion between 1992 and 2004. Patients with high-risk disease who had adjuvant chemotherapy were identified and stratified based on the type of urinary diversion (ileal conduit or neobladder). The chemotherapy regimen, complications from the adjuvant chemotherapy and other relevant data were analysed.

RESULTS

Overall, 343 patients had radical cystectomy, 40 had adjuvant chemotherapy; 25 had an ileal conduit and 15 had a neobladder. Patient characteristics including age, stage and follow-up were similar. In all, 55% of patients had grade 1 toxicity, 23% grade 2, 18% grade 3, and 13% grade 4. No patients had serious organ toxicity and none died. There were no significant differences in the toxicity among the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Adjuvant chemotherapy appears to be safe in patients with a neobladder and equally safe in patients with an ileal conduit. Hence neobladder reconstruction should not be denied to patients with bladder cancer who are at high risk of recurrence and who might require adjuvant chemotherapy.

The role of systemic chemotherapy in the management of muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Patients with localised but muscle-invasive transitional-cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder are at high risk of relapse and death from metastatic disease after local treatment by cystectomy, radiation, or both. Despite improvements in treatment, patients with metastatic TCC have a median survival of about a year. TCC is quite sensitive to chemotherapy, and patients are able to tolerate newer regimens such as gemcitabine plus cisplatin better than older regimens such as methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin. However, the role of chemotherapy in the management of locally advanced muscle-invasive TCC remains uncertain. Most trials of neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy have shown no significant improvement in survival, but many of these studies had suboptimum design, evaluated chemotherapy that was less effective than regimens in current use, and had sample sizes that were too small for important changes in survival to be detected or ruled out. Recent trials show trends in the direction of improved survival when optimum chemotherapy is used. Large trials that recruit more than 1000 patients are required to assess the effectiveness of adjunctive chemotherapy, and a large intergroup trial is in progress. Other trials should address the role of molecular markers in selecting patients for chemotherapy. Whenever possible, chemotherapy for locally advanced muscle-invasive TCC should be given in the context of a well-designed clinical trial.

Prognostic factors for survival and bladder recurrence in transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract

BACKGROUND

Prognostic factors for survival in transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract have been extensively evaluated, but detailed analyses of patterns of bladder recurrence after surgery have been rare.

METHODS

The outcome and tumor recurrence of 93 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract surgically treated between 1975 and 1999 were reviewed, retrospectively. Disease-specific survival by pathologic stage and grade were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier

METHOD

Prognostic factors for survival and bladder recurrence were examined by univariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

The 5-year disease-specific survival rates of the patients with pTa, T1 and T2 were 92.9%, 100% and 88.9%, respectively. However, that of the pT3 patients was 61.9% and the median survival of the pT4 cases was only 7 months. Bladder recurrence was seen in 40 cases and recurrences occurred within 1 year in 32 of these patients. The stage and grade of metachronous bladder tumors usually resembled those of primary tumors, but invasive recurrences were seen in 19% of recurrent cases with primary pTa, pT1 tumors. The significant prognostic factor for survival was pathologic stage (pT3, pT4), but no significant variables were detected for bladder recurrence by multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The prognosis of pT3, pT4 patients is poor and effective systemic adjuvant therapy is necessary. Invasive bladder recurrence occurred in 19% of patients with superficial primary tumors. As no significant prognostic variables for bladder recurrence were identified, careful follow up for bladder recurrence is important even if the primary tumors are non-invasive.