[Superficial bladder neoplasia unresponsive to endocavitary treatment: when should the treatment approach be changed?]. / Neoplasie vescicali superficiali non responsive al trattamento endocavitario: quando cambiare approccio terapeutico?

PURPOSE: The appropriate treatment of superficial bladder neoplasm is still debated. The urologist must weigh the risk of tumor recurrence and progression against the possible side effects of conservative treatment (transurethral resection, intravesical therapy). Furthermore it is difficult to decide exactly when to abandon the conservative therapy and proceed with radical cystectomy and urinary diversion in order to prevent the potentially lethal sequelae of invasive bladder cancer. There are no certain scientific data on the appropriate therapeutic approach of recurrences of superficial bladder cancer after intravesical therapy and often the urologist takes a decision based on his personal experience ("art rather than science"). Based on these considerations, our aim was to evaluate applicable criteria to predict the risks of tumor recurrence and progression and so decide the best treatment for each patient. METHODS: 148 patients with multifocal, multirecurrent or persistent superficial bladder cancer (stage Ta-T1-Tis, G1-3) were treated with transurethral resection and/or two or more administration of intravesical chemo- (Mitomycin C, Doxorubicin, Epirubicin, Mitoxantron) or immuno-therapy (BCG) using common treatment schedule. Our first end point was the disease-free survival (DFS) evaluated by three different criteria: 1) "dynamic" stage (stage T1 diagnosed at the beginning, or during the follow-up or never); 2) "dynamic" grade (G3 tumor diagnosed at the beginning or during the follow-up or never); 3) "number of positive cystoscopies at the 3-year follow-up". Data were evaluated by a univariate statistical analysis (log-rank test) and a multivariate ones (MPLR stepwise procedure and L-ratio Cox's test). RESULTS: "Dynamic" stage: patients who never developed a T1 stage tumor have a better DFS than patients who developed a T1 stage tumor and even more than patients in which T1 was diagnosed from the beginning (p < 0.0001). "Dynamic" grade: patients who never developed a G3 tumor have a better DFS than patients who developed a G3 tumor and patients in which G3 tumor was diagnosed from the beginning (p < 0.0017). "Number of positive cystoscopies at the 3-year follow-up": patients with less than 3 positive cystoscopies have a better prognosis than patients with 3 or more positive cystoscopies at the three-year follow-up (p < 0.0380). DISCUSSION: We have found three independent predictive prognostic factors: "dynamic" stage, "dynamic" grade and number of positive cystoscopies at the 3-year follow-up. The statistical univariate and multivariate analyses allow us to define three risk categories for tumor progression (> or = T2): low, moderate, high.

Modified induction course: a solution to side-effects?

Side-effects are commonly manifested during intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy of superficial bladder cancer. This often causes delays or interruptions of the instillations and consequently reduces the efficacy of treatment. Treatment strategies aimed at reducing the side-effects of BCG immunotherapy while maintaining efficacy are currently being considered in the search for an optimal treatment regimen. The following two approaches to BCG immunotherapy were investigated at the Department of Urology of Padova University by specific Phase II and III trials designed to evaluate the possibility of reducing BCG-related side-effects without compromising therapeutic efficacy: (1) by reducing the dose of BCG per instillation 'low-dose' regimen, (2) by delaying the interval of the instillations 'slow-rate' regimen.

Prognostic factors of outcome after radical cystectomy for bladder cancer: a retrospective study of a homogeneous patient cohort.

PURPOSE: Pathological predictors of outcome for patients undergoing radical cystectomy for bladder cancer are needed as few data are available in the literature. We retrospectively analyzed a homogeneous and contemporary series of patients treated with radical surgery as monotherapy for bladder cancer to identify the independent predictors of survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated 369 of 535 patients with bladder cancer treated with radical cystectomy, pelvic node dissection and urinary diversion by the same staff at a single institution between February 1982 and February 1994. Patients treated with radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy, and those who did not undergo formal pelvic node dissection were excluded from study. The end point of univariate and multivariate analyses was the overall 5-year survival. RESULTS: Univariate analysis revealed that tumor stage, nodal involvement, ureteral obstruction, and vascular, lymphatic and perineural invasion were prognostic predictors of survival (p <0.05). However, only tumor stage (p <0.0000) and nodal involvement (p <0.0000) were independent prognostic variables of survival on multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor stage and nodal involvement are the only independent predictors of survival to be used to select the optimal therapy after radical cystectomy, stratify patients in controlled trials and evaluate new prognostic factors.