Improvement of oncologic results of transurethral resection in the treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Aim: To evaluate the efficiency of additional methods of intraoperative control during transurethral resection (TUR) for the treatment of nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer. Material and methods. A total of 138 patients (92 men and 46 women) with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (Ta-T1N0M0) were treated in the urological clinic of Kazan State Medical University. The median age was 59 years. In 28 patients TUR was performed as monotherapy, in 28 patients TUR with photodynamic therapy (PDD) was done and other 26 patients undergone TUR under dynamic transurethral ultrasound control. In 29 patients, TUR was combined with a single intravesical instillation of a chemotherapy drug, and in 27 patients, TUR was combined with long-term intravesical chemotherapy. The frequency and type of relapses was evaluated depending on the treatment method during five-year follow-up period. Analysis of postoperative complications and their severity was performed according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistica 7.0 and Microsoft Excel 2003 software package. Survival was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Differences in survival between groups were determined using a log-rang test. Results. The total 5-years recurrence rate in the group 1 was 60.71% (n=17). There were 6 recurrences in the resection area (21.43%) and 8 recurrences outside the resection area (28.57%). The progression rate was 10.71% (n=3). In the group 2, the overall recurrence rate was 25% (n=7), including 2 (7.14%) and 4 (14.29%) recurrences in and outside resection area, respectively. The progression rate was 3.57% (n=1). In the group 3, where TUR was performed in combination with transurethral ultrasound, 7 recurrences were diagnosed over a five-year period (26.92%), including 1 recurrence in the resection area (3.84%) and 6 recurrences in other parts of bladder (23.07%). There was no progression of bladder cancer. In the group of patients who received a single intravenous chemotherapy after TUR, there were no significant differences with the group of patients where TUR was performed as monotherapy. The total number of recurrences was 55.16% (n=16). There were 4 recurrences in the resection area (13.79%) and 9 recurrences in other parts of bladder (31.03%), as well as 3 case of disease progression (10.34%). At the same time, in the group of patients where prolonged course of adjuvant intravesical chemotherapy was performed, a significant decrease in the recurrences rate in the resection area (7.4%; n=2) and progression (3.7%, n=1) was found. The number of recurrences outside the resection area was comparable with the group 1 (22.22%; n=6). Conclusions. According to our data, we recommend to perform TUR in combination with PDD and transurethral ultrasound in order to improve the oncological results. Long-term intravesical chemotherapy is an effective alternative in case of inability to use additional intraoperative control and it should be included in the treatment scheme of patients with a high risk of recurrence.

non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, transurethral resection, photodynamic diagnosis, transurethral ultrasound