Adjuvant chemotherapy is possibly beneficial for locally advanced or node-positive bladder cancer

This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) after radical cystectomy (RC) in non-organ-confined bladder cancer.

Sixty-one patients who did not receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) underwent RC for locally advanced (pT3-4) or node-positive (pN1-3) bladder cancer, or both, between 1990 and 2012. Of these patients, 39 (64%) received cisplatin-based AC after RC (AC group) and the remaining 22 patients (36%) did not (non-AC group). Cancer-specific survival (CSS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were compared between the groups.

The AC group was significantly younger (P = .004), but no significant differences were noted between the groups for pT stage, pN stage, nuclear grade, renal function, and salvage chemotherapy rates after recurrence. During a follow-up of 29 months (median), 40 patients (67%) experienced recurrence/metastasis and 34 (56%) died of recurrent bladder cancer. The AC group showed better RFS than the non-AC group, but the difference was not statistically significant (median survival time [MST], 23.7 vs. 11.4 months, respectively; P = .154). CSS was significantly better for the AC group than for the non-AC group (MST, 57.4 vs. 17.9 months, respectively; P = .008). On multivariate analysis, AC was an independent predictive factor for both RFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.325; P = .005) and CSS (HR, 0.186; P < .001), along with surgical margin status and lymphovascular invasion (LVI). In a subgroup analysis of 31 node-positive cases, the AC group had a significantly better CSS compared with the non-AC group (P = .029). Analysis of node-negative cases (n = 30) yielded no significant benefit for AC.

Our observations suggest that postoperative cisplatin-based AC improves survival in locally advanced or node-positive bladder cancer, especially in node-positive cases.