Rates of Systemic Therapy for Metastatic Bladder Cancer Are Lower in Unmarried Males and Females.

OBJECTIVE: Systemic therapy is guideline-recommended for metastatic urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder (UCUB). Unmarried status represents an important barrier to treatment access in many primaries. The importance of married status is unknown in the context of systemic therapy in metastatic UCUB and was addressed in the current study. METHODS: We relied on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (2004-2020) to identify patients with metastatic UCUB. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to address systemic therapy rates. Additionally, temporal trends were plotted. RESULTS: Overall, 6873 patients with stage IV UCUB were identified. Of those, 4853 (71%) were male. Of males, 2993 (62%) were married vs. 797 (39%) of females. The rates of systemic therapy were 55% in both married males and married females. Married males and females differed from their unmarried counterparts regarding age and race/ethnicity. In males, prior to any adjustment, married status was associated with an odds ratio of 1.46 (P < .001). After adjustment for age and race/ethnicity, the odds ratio increased to 1.73 (P < .001). In females, prior to any adjustment, married status was associated with an odds ratio of 1.94 (P < .001). After adjustment for age and race/ethnicity, the odds ratio decreased to 1.57 (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Unmarried males and unmarried females are significantly exposed to lower access to systemic therapy compared to their married counterparts. In consequence, both unmarried men and unmarried women should be given very careful consideration when use of systemic therapy in metastatic UCUB is contemplated.

Contemporary conditional cancer-specific survival rates in surgically treated nonmetastatic primary urethral carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: We examined the effect of disease-free interval (DFI) duration on cancer-specific mortality (CSM)-free survival, otherwise known as the effect of conditional survival, in radical urethrectomy nonmetastatic primary urethral carcinoma (PUC) patients. METHODS: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database 2000-2020, patient (age, sex, race/ethnicity, and marital status) and tumor (stage and histology) characteristics, as well as systemic therapy exposure status of nonmetastatic PUC patients were tabulated. Conditional survival estimates at 5-year were assessed based on DFI duration and according to stage at presentation (T1 -2N0 vs. T3-4N0-2). RESULTS: Of all 512 radical urethrectomy PUC patients, 278 (54%) harbored T1-2N0 stage versus 234 (46%) harbored T3-4N0-2 stage. In 512 PUC patients, 5-year CSM-free survival at initial diagnosis was 61.8%. Provided a DFI duration of 36 months, 5-year CSM-free survival was 85.6%. In 278 T1-2N0 PUC patients, 5-year CSM-free survival at initial diagnosis was 68.4%. Provided a DFI duration of 36 months, 5-year CSM-free survival was 86.9%. In 234 T3-4N0-2 PUC patients, 5-year CSM-free survival at initial diagnosis was 53.8%. Provided a DFI duration of 36 months, 5-year CSM-free survival was 83.6%. CONCLUSIONS: Although intuitively, clinicians and patients are well aware of the concept that increasing DFI duration improves survival probability, only a few clinicians can accurately estimate the magnitude of survival improvement, as was done within the current study. Such information is crucial to survivors, especially in those diagnosed with rare malignancies, where the survival estimation according to DFI duration is even more challenging.

Married Status Affects Rates of Treatment and Mortality in Male and Female Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Across all Stages.

INTRODUCTION: The association between treatment rates and cancer specific mortality (CSM) according to married status in male and female clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients across all stages is unknown. PATIENT AND METHODS: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (2004-2020), ccRCC patients were stratified according to married status (married vs. unmarried). Logistic regression models addressed treatment rates; Cox regression models addressed CSM rates. RESULTS: Of 98,142 patients, 43,999 (72%) males and 20,287 (55%) females were married. In stage-specific analyses, married status independently predicted higher nephrectomy rates in males and females (all P ≤ .03). In stage IV, married status predicted higher systemic therapy rate in males (P < .001), but not in females. In survival analyses, married males exhibited lower CSM rates relative to unmarried males (all P ≤ .02). Conversely, married females exhibited lower CSM rates only in stages I and III (all P ≤ .02), but not in stages II and IV. In subgroup analyses of T1aN0M0 patients, married status was associated with higher partial nephrectomy rates in both males and females (all P ≤ .005). CONCLUSION: In ccRCC, married status invariably predicts higher rates of guideline recommended surgical management (nephrectomy and partial nephrectomy). Moreover, even after adjustment for treatment type, married status independently predicted lower CSM rates in males across all stages. However, the effect of married status in females is only operational in stages I and III. Lack of association between married status in stages II and IV may potentially be explained by stronger association with treatment assignment which reduces the residual effect on survival.