Survival outcomes of patients diagnosed with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who showed a response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and refused radical cystectomy, and patients who had radical cystectomy or received chemoradiotherapy

Introduction. We aimed to compare the survival results of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who responded after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and did not accept further treatment and those who underwent radical cystectomy or received chemoradiotherapy (CRT).  Material and methods. The study included 53 patients with non-metastatic muscle-invasive bladder cancer who received NAC between 2009 and 2020. Clinical findings and post-NAC survival analysis were evaluated. Survival analyses of patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) after NAC, received CRT, and refused treatment were compared.  Results. The median age at diagnosis was 61 (33–80) years. After NAC, 18 patients (34%) received CRT, 9 patients (17%) underwent RC, and 18 patients (34%) refused further treatment. Complete response (CR) was present in 10 (18.4%) patients, partial response (PR) in 35 (66%) patients, stable disease (SD) in 1 (1.9%) patient, and progression in 7 (13.2%) patients. Median overall survival (OS) was 78 months. Median OS was not reached in the RC arm; it was 97 months in the CRT arm and 78 months in the declined-treatment arm. There was no statistical difference between the arms (p = 0.94). Median disease-free survival (DFS) was 32 months. Median DFS in the RC arm was 30 months, in the CRT arm — 34 months, and 28 months in the declined-treatment arm after NAC. There was no statistically significant difference between the arms (p = 0.74).  Conclusions. We did not find any difference in terms of OS and DFS between patients who after NAC underwent RC, CRT, or refused treatment