Romerr Alao

Introduction: The role of urethrectomy at the time of Robotic-Assisted or Open Radical Cystectomy (RARC, ORC) is controversial. Whether urethrectomy should be performed at the time of RARC/ORC or delayed up to a 3–6 month interval is unclear. We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of perioperative and survival outcomes in patients with high-risk NMIBCs or non-metastatic MIBCs at our institution who underwent either concomitant or deferred urethrectomy after RC. Materials and Methods: cTis-T1 or cT2-T4, N0-1, M0 BC patients who underwent RARC or ORC from 2009 to 2024 were reviewed. Clinical, demographic, tumour, and patient characteristics and perioperative variables were assessed across concomitant and delayed urethrectomy groups. Multivariate logistic analysis was performed to estimate the impact of significant variables on intraoperative and postoperative outcomes. Univariable Kaplan–Meier and multivariable Cox regression modelling was implemented to explore the relative effect of time of urethrectomy on progression-free survival (PFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS). Results: A total of n = 58 patients (n = 47 delayed vs. n = 11 concomitant) with similar demographic characteristics were included. The concomitant urethrectomy group experienced longer operative time and greater blood loss (379 ± 65 min and 430 ± 101 mL vs. 342 ± 82 min and 422 ± 125 mL, with p = 0.049 and p = 0.028, respectively). Hospital readmission rates were higher in the concomitant urethrectomy group (36.4% vs. 8.5%, p = 0.016; OR: 17.9; 95% CI 1.2–265; p = 0.036). In Cox regression analysis, the timing of urethrectomy had no influence on PFS, CSS, or OS (all p > 0.05). Conclusions: Our study suggests that urethrectomy can be safely deferred unless urothelial disease is clearly present pre- or intraoperatively without compromising survival outcome and with the advantage of reducing surgical morbidity at the time of RC.

Introduction: Radical cystectomy (RC) is the gold standard for urothelial cT2-4a, N0, M0 muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). However, bladder-sparing strategies (BSS) such as Trimodality Therapy (TMT) have emerged as alternative treatments for a select group of localized muscle-confined (cT2) urothelial bladder cancers. Accordingly, reliable preoperative staging and a reliable risk factor assessment linked to pathological upstaging play a key role in adequate counselling and patient selection for BSS. Patients and Methods: cT2 MIBC patients undergoing RC at our institution from 2014 to 2024 were reviewed. Preoperative staging modalities, demographics, and tumour and patient characteristics were assessed. Multivariable logistic regression was applied to explore the relative effect of confounders on any pathological upstaging from robot-assisted or open RC specimens. Subgroup analysis according to the local upstaging (>pT2) or nodal dissemination (pN+) was also performed. Results: N = 275 RCs were included (73.5% males, 26.5% females). Upstaging was documented in n = 141 (51%) cases. Of these, n = 125 (45.5%) were upstaged locally (>pT2) and n = 35 (23%) yielded pN+ disease. Preoperative parameters like gender, the number of TURBTs, previous BCG exposure, and concomitant CIS did not significantly influence the risk of any kind of upstaging (p > 0.05). At multivariable analysis, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and multi-disciplinary team (MDT) discussion were found protective (odds ratio [OR]: 0.4, 95%CI 0.2–0.7, p = 0.001 and OR: 0.51, 95%CI 0.2–0.9, p = 0.01). Preoperative FDG-PET assessment yielded higher risk for later pN upstaging (OR: 1.8, 95%CI 1–3, p = 0.05). HG/G3 features at TURBT along with mixed/pure histology variants in RC specimens were the most relevant independent predictors for both any and pT upstaging (OR: 4.3, 95%CI 1–34, p = 0.04 and OR: 2.3, 95%CI 1.1–4.6, p = 0.02 for any upstaging and OR: 5.6, 95%CI 1.3–36, p = 0.02 and OR: 2.5, 95%CI 1.3–5, p = 0.01 for pT upstaging, respectively). Conclusions: In this study, over half of the patients undergoing RC for cT2 were upstaged at the final pathology. Therefore, adequate counselling and examining the non-conventional criteria for prognosis is mandatory in the contemporary era of bladder-preservation strategies.