Prognostic value of complete response in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

AIM: To evaluate the feasibility of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in very advanced bladder cancer (stage IV) and further analyze the prognostic factors in these patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathological features and outcomes of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer after CCRT. Sixty-one patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who underwent CCRT between January 1996 and March 2011 were eligible for evaluation. Chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin (50 mg/m(2)) at day one, and 5-fluorouracil (500 mg/m(2)/day) and leucovorin (50 mg/m(2)/day) at days 1, 2, and 3, every three weeks, for a maximum of six cycles. The radiation dose was 44-45 Gy to the entire pelvis and 60-66 Gy to the entire bladder, with a daily fraction of 1.8-2 Gy.

RESULTS: By August 2012, the estimated median progression-free survival (PFS), cancer-specific survival, and overall survival (OS) were 25.7, 64.3 and 35.8 months, respectively; the complete response (CR) rate was 68.8%. Both clinical stage and CR following CCRT, were independent prognostic factors for PFS, cancer-specific survival, and OS. Patients with stage IV disease who achieved CR had significantly better PFS (log-rank p=0.01), cancer-specific survival (log-rank p=0.01), and OS (log-rank p=0.01) than those with stage II/III disease but no CR. The absence of hydronephrosis was the only factor predictive of CR after CCRT (odd ratio, 4.21; p=0.04).

CONCLUSION: CR was the most important prognostic factor in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Selected patients with stage IV bladder cancer could benefit from CCRT if a CR is achieved.