Post-Chemo Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer OK at 10 Weeks
THURSDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) — Cystectomy delivered within 10 weeks after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) does not compromise survival of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), according to a study published online May 19 in Cancer.
Ajjai S. Alva, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues analyzed the impact of the timing of cystectomy delivery on survival in 153 patients with MIBC, who received NAC and underwent radical cystectomy between 1990 and 2007. The participants were followed up for an average 3.6 years. Using an institutional database, the clinicopathologic characteristics, including vital status, chemotherapy delivery, timing of cystectomy, and reasons for excessive surgical delay, were analyzed. The correlation between the timing of cystectomy delivery and survival was analyzed.
The investigators found that cystectomy was delivered after an average 16.6 and 6.9 weeks from the first and last day of NAC, respectively. The risk of survival was not significantly altered by the timing of cystectomy delivery from the termination of NAC, after adjusting for confounders. Procedural scheduling was the most common reason for cystectomy delivery beyond 10 weeks (affecting 18 percent of patients).
"Cystectomy delivery within 10 weeks after NAC did not compromise patient survival and, thus, provided a reasonable window for patient recovery and surgical intervention," the authors write
