Management and long-term clinical outcomes of patients with stage IVA cervical cancer with bladder involvement

OBJECTIVE

To describe the long-term outcomes of patients with stage IVA cervical cancer, a rare and deadly disease for which long-term toxicity data are scarce, to guide clinician counseling and survivorship support.

METHODS

In a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database, we identified 76 patients with stage IVA cervical cancer with biopsy- or MRI-proven bladder mucosal involvement who received definitive radiotherapy (external beam radiotherapy [EBRT] alone or EBRT plus brachytherapy) with or without chemotherapy at our institution between 2000 and 2020. We used Kaplan-Meier modeling to estimate recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) and used proportional hazard modeling to identify clinical variables associated with recurrence or survival. We performed actuarial competing risk modeling for severe late toxicity (grades 3 to 5, occurring >6 months of follow-up) and vesicovaginal fistulae (VVF), censoring for pelvic recurrence and death, and made comparisons between potential predictors using Gray's test and binary logistic regression.

RESULTS

The median follow-up time was 76 months (interquartile range 58-91). The median OS duration was 35 months (range, 18-not reached), and the 2- and 5-year OS rates were 53.6% and 40.9%, respectively. OS and RFS did not differ significantly between patients who received EBRT alone (N = 18) or EBRT plus brachytherapy (N = 49). Current smoking was a strong predictor of severe late toxicity, whose incidence was 14% at 2 years and 17% at 10 years. The VVF incidence was 24% at 2 years and 32% at 10 years.

CONCLUSION

Patients with stage IVA cervical cancer, even those who receive EBRT alone, can have long-term survival. These patients should be followed closely for late radiation-related toxicity.

Bladder involvement in placenta accreta spectrum disorder with placenta previa: MRI findings and outcomes correlation

BACKGROUND

Placental accreta spectrum (PAS) disorder with bladder involvement can be associated with maternal and neonatal morbidity. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may provide accurate preoperative diagnoses.

OBJECTIVE

This study had 2 aims: to retrospectively review the MRI findings for bladder involvement in PAS with placental previa and to correlate bladder involvement with maternal and neonatal outcomes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

MRI images of 48 patients with severe PAS (increta and percreta) with placenta previa/low-lying placenta were evaluated by 2 experienced radiologists blinded to the final diagnoses. Nine MRI findings and stepwise logistic regression analysis were assessed to identify predictive MRI findings for bladder involvement. The correlations between PAS patients with bladder involvement and clinical outcomes were analyzed using Fisher's exact test.

RESULTS

Of the 48 patients, 27 did not have bladder involvement, while 21 did. Logistic regression analysis identified 2 predictive MRI features for bladder involvement. They were abnormal vascularization (OR,6.94; 95 %CI,1.05-45.75) and loss of the chemical shift line at the uterovesical interface (OR, 4.41; 95 %CI, 0.63-30.98). The sensitivity and specificity of the combined MRI features were 38.1 % and 100 %, respectively (p = 0.001). A significant correlation was found between bladder involvement and massive blood loss during surgery (p = 0.022).

CONCLUSIONS

PAS with bladder involvement was significantly correlated with massive surgical blood loss. Prenatally, the disorder was predicted with high specificity by the combination of loss of chemical shift artifacts in the steady-state free precession sequence and abnormal vascularization at the uterovesical interface on MRI.