Radical Cystectomy in Pathological T4a and T4b Bladder Cancer Patients: Is There Any Space for Sub Stratification?

According to TNM staging, pathological T4ab are comprehensive of the invasion of prostate, seminal vesicles, uterus or vagina and pelvic or abdominal wall. However, few data are available on the perioperative and oncological outcomes of specific organ invasion.

A total of 917 consecutive bladder cancer (BCa) patients treated with radical cystectomy (RC) at a single institution between 1990 and 2015 were studies. Cox regression analyses were used to stratify pT4ab according to the site of invasion and survival.

Overall, 176 (19.2%) and 40 (4.4%) patients harbored pT4a or pT4b disease. Specifically, 84 (9.2%) patients reported prostate and/or SVI invasion, 62 (6.8%) prostate only, 16 (1.7%) uterus, 14 (1.5%) vaginal, 24 (2.6%) pelvic wall, and 16 (1.7%) abdominal wall invasion. The median follow-up in pT4 patients was 48 months. The 1-year cancer-specific mortality (CSM) rates were 71, 65, 24, 50, 50, and 72%, for vaginal, uterus, prostate only, prostate and/or seminal vesicles, pelvic wall, and abdominal wall invasions, respectively. At multivariable Cox regression, the invasion of prostate only (hazard ratio [HR] 3.53), prostate and/or SVI (HR 4.98), uterus (HR 7.16), vagina (HR 6.12), pelvic (HR 11.81), abdominal (8.36) were associated with adverse CSM.

Our study described the differences in survival related to invasion site in pT4 patients, confirming poor survival expectancies in this subgroup. Patients with prostate invasion only seem to be associated with better survival than those affected by concomitant invasion of seminal vesicles. Uterus and vaginal invasions were associated with poor survival outcomes. Patients Summary: In this study, we looked at the outcome of locally advanced invasive BCa (stage pT4) in patients treated with RC at a tertiary referral hospital. We analyzed the differences in survival related to the specific organ invasion. We confirmed poor survival in this subgroup of patients. Only patients who had prostate invasion only seem to have a better survival.