Hexylaminolevulinate photodynamic diagnosis for multifocal recurrent nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer

To determine the potential for hexylaminolevulinate (HAL) photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) to improve the management of multifocal recurrent nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

Patients with a history of NMIBC and with at least two suspected papillary recurrences were enrolled in this prospective study between April 2005 and October 2006. The photosensitizer was hexylaminolevulinate (HAL) (PhotoCure, Norway), and the Storz D-light system was used to detect fluorescence. The bladder was mapped initially under white light and then using HAL-photodynamic diagnosis (PDD). The number and types of additional lesions detected by HAL-PDD over white light cystoscopy were measured.

Eighteen patients (11 men), median age 74 years (range 35-84 yrs), underwent HAL-PDD. The median HAL instillation time was 109 minutes (range 60-250 min). Recurrent bladder cancer was confirmed histologically in 14/18 (78%) patients. Additional pathology was detected in 8/14 (57%) patients with confirmed recurrence and confirmed histologically in 6 of these. Additional pathology was papillary in 5/6 (83%) patients, and flat pathology was found in all six patients with additional foci. Carcinoma in situ (CIS) was detected in 4/6 (67%) patients with additional foci, three of whom were subsequently treated with intravesical bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG). The sensitivity of HAL-PDD for the detection of tumor was 97.8%, compared with 69.6% for white light cystoscopy. The false-positive fluorescence-guided biopsy rate was 18/63 (29%).

HAL-PDD allows more complete management of bladder tumor in patients with multifocal recurrence. The high frequency of additional lesions detected and the rate of detection of CIS suggest that HAL-PDD should be the standard of care.