Treatment and outcome in muscle invasive bladder cancer:a population-based survey

OBJECTIVE: To assess treatments and survival of patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) in the Comprehensive Cancer Center Northern Netherlands (CCCN) region.STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective cohort analysis. Data of 548 patients with MIBC diagnosed between 1997 and 2002 were collected from the CCCN cancer registry. All had a follow-up of at least 5 years. Logistic regression analysis on treatments as well as survival analysis was performed.RESULTS: The treatments were radical cystectomy in 205/548 (37.5%) patients. TUR plus radiotherapy in 246 (44.9%) and palliation in 97 (17.7%). Multivariate analysis identified TNM stage (P < 0.0001) and age (P < 0.0001) as independent variables for cystectomy. Hospital type and year of diagnosis were not significant different between patients treated by cystectomy versus other type of treatment. TNM stage (P < 0.0001), age (P = 0.0043), and comorbidity (P = 0.0028) were independent variables for disease-specific survival (DSS) after cystectomy.CONCLUSION: In the CCCN region, only 1/3 of patients with MIBC were treated with radical cystectomy. TNM stage and age were identified as main variables for the choice for cystectomy. TNM stage, age, and comorbidity were independent variables for disease-specific survival after cystectomy.