A Retrospective Analysis of the Effect on Survival of Time from Diagnosis to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy to Cystectomy for Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

Purpose We determine the impact of the timing of radical cystectomy from the diagnosis of muscle invasive bladder cancer on survival in patients also treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective chart review of consecutive patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by cystectomy between 1996 and 2014 at a single institution. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to investigate the effect of treatment time intervals on overall survival. Three treatment intervals were analyzed for survival impact, from diagnosis of muscle invasive bladder cancer to initiation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, from initiation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy to cystectomy and from diagnosis to cystectomy. Other pretreatment and posttreatment clinicopathological parameters were also analyzed. Results Median time from the diagnosis of muscle invasive bladder cancer to radical cystectomy was 28 weeks. Cystectomy performed less than 28 weeks from the diagnosis did not result in significant improvement in overall survival outcomes (HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.28–1.63, p=0.388). Neither the timing of neoadjuvant chemotherapy initiation from diagnosis (median 6 weeks) nor the timing of cystectomy from neoadjuvant chemotherapy initiation (median 22 weeks) was associated with survival. Patient age, variant histology, extravesical and/or lymph node involvement (T3-4 and/or N1 or greater) were significantly associated with survival. Conclusions The timing of radical cystectomy in relation to muscle invasive bladder cancer diagnosis date does not significantly impact overall survival in patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.