Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy or Early Cystectomy? Single-center Analysis of Outcomes After Therapy for Patients With Clinically Localized Micropapillary Urothelial Carcinoma of the Bladder

OBJECTIVES To analyze the treatment outcomes of patients with micropapillary bladder cancer (MPBC). MPBC is a rare variant of urothelial carcinoma with aggressive clinical behavior. Radical cystectomy is considered the standard approach for treatment of patients with localized disease; however, the role of perioperative systemic therapy has been poorly defined. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective review identified 38 consecutive patients who had been treated at our institution for MPBC from 2000 to 2010. The patient data were analyzed for the pre- and postoperative clinicopathologic features, treatment course, and cancer-specific survival. RESULTS The median follow-up of surviving patients after cystectomy was 17 months (range 2-75). At the initial transurethral biopsy, 28 patients (74%) had clinical Stage T2N0 or less. In this group, 26 (93%) of 28 were upstaged to nonorgan-confined and/or lymph node-positive disease. Overall, 32 patients (86%) had evidence of lymph node metastasis on the final pathologic examination. All patients with cTis-T1 who had undergone initial bladder-sparing therapy with bacille Calmette-Guerin had pathologically advanced disease at cystectomy. All 15 patients who had received perioperative cisplatin-based chemotherapy died of metastatic disease. The 5-year overall survival rate was 40% (95% confidence interval 16-64). CONCLUSIONS MPBC is an aggressive disease with a high likelihood of regional lymph node metastasis at the initial presentation. Although radical cystectomy plays a critical role in treatment, systemic neoadjuvant chemotherapy might be a more appropriate strategy than immediate cystectomy. Because of the poor response to current chemotherapy agents, the development of new and effective drugs for this subset of patients could be needed. UROLOGY 77: 867-870, 2011. (c) 2011 Elsevier Inc.