AUA 2017: Clinical Destiny of Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules in Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy for Urothelial Carcinoma of the Bladder
The authors analyzed their institutional retrospective database for patients who underwent RC from 2000-2014 for urothelial carcinoma (UCC) of the bladder & had ≥1 identifiable pulmonary lesion on preoperative staging imaging measuring <2cm in any axis. Patients who were M1 at surgery or had non urothelial histology were excluded. Cumulative incidence of any lung metastasis was estimated, adjusting for competing risk of death; overall survival (OS) was estimating using Kaplan Meier methods. The natural history of these pulmonary lesions was sought and deciphering predictors of metastatic etiology was attempted.
During the study period, 681 RC were performed at the authors’ institution. 73/681 (11%) patients had an identifiable preoperative IPN. In this subset, 23% were female, 22% were active smokers & 55% former smokers. The median age at surgery was 70 yrs (range 43-88). 51% received neoadjuvant chemotherapy & 62% of RCs were performed using the traditional open approach (vs 38% robotically). Final pathologic staging included 16% pT0N0Mx, 19% pTa/Tis/T1N0Mx, 43% pT2-4N0Mx, & 22% pTanyN+Mx. Median IPN size was 0.7±0.3cm. At a median follow up of 23.5 months, the IPNs were clinically benign in 92% (67/73) of patients, with metastatic urothelial cancer confirmed in only 5 patients, & a primary lung malignancy diagnosed in 1 patient. In the IPN cohort, lung metastasis at non-IPN sites were detected in 2 additional patients. Cumulative incidence of any lung metastasis at 12, 24 & 36 months was 5.9% (95%CI 1.9-13.3%), 7.6% (95%CI 2.8-15.7%), & 10.3% (95%CI 3.9-20.2%), respectively. OS at 12, 24 & 36 months was 75.3% (95%CI 62.3-83.9%), 65.8% (95%CI 53-1-75.9%), & 54.0% (95%CI 39.7-66.2%), respectively.
In summary, the majority of IPNs <2 cm in patients undergoing RC for UCC of the bladder were stable upon follow-up & rarely represented malignancy. Therefore, in appropriately screened UCC patients, IPNs should not be a barrier to proceeding with extirpative surgical therapy.
Presented By: David Cahn, Philadelphia, PA
Written By: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Twitter: @Goldberghanan
at the 2017 AUA Annual Meeting - May 12 - 16, 2017 – Boston, Massachusetts, USA