Long-Term Outcomes of Radical Radiation Therapy with Hypoxia Modification with Biomarker Discovery for Stratification: 10-Year Update of the BCON (Bladder Carbogen Nicotinamide) Phase 3 Randomized Trial (ISRCTN45938399)

Purpose: Many muscle-invasive bladder cancers are hypoxic, which limits the efficacy of radiation therapy. Hypoxia modification using carbogen and nicotinamide has been tested in a phase 3 trial, Bladder Carbogen Nicotinamide. We present mature follow-up data with biomarker predictions of outcomes. Methods and Materials: Bladder Carbogen Nicotinamide is a prospective, phase 3, multicenter, randomized, 2-arm, nonblinded clinical trial. Participants were randomized to receive radical radiation therapy (RT; control arm) alone or with the addition of carbogen (98% O2; 2% CO2) and nicotinamide (CON). Patients with muscle-invasive or high- grade nonemuscle invasive bladder cancer were included. Tumor tissue was collected at entry and was analyzed for tumor necrosis, hypoxia (24-gene signature), and basal and luminal tumor molecular subtypes. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival and relationships with biomarker status outcomes are analyzed using multivariable Cox regression and log-rank analysis. Results: We analyzed 333 patients with a median follow-up of 10.3 years. The 10-year OS rates were 30% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.23-0.39) in RT thorn CON patients and 24% (95% CI, 0.18-0.33) in the RT-alone patients (hazard ratio [HR], 0.80; 95% CI, 0.61-1.04; P = .08). The greatest benefit from CON was seen in patients with tumor necrosis (n = 79; 5-year OS, 53% vs. 33% in patients without tumor necrosis; HR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.36-0.99; P = .04). Cases with a high hypoxia gene score (n = 75) had a 5-year OS rate of 51%, compared to 34% for a low score (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.38-1.08; P = .09); those with the basal molecular subtype (n = 70) had a 5-year OS rate of 58%, compared to 38% for those with the luminal subtype (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.32-1.06; P = .08). Conclusions: Although the improvement in long-term OS in the whole population is not statistically significant, patients selected by necrosis and high hypoxia gene score benefitted from hypoxia modification. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The Bladder Carbogen Nicotinamide trial showed the efficacy of nicotinamide and carbogen in the treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Analysis of follow-up data revealed that patients with tumor necrosis and high hypoxia gene scores benefited significantly from the treatment.