Few studies have specifically examined sleep health in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Further study is warranted to inform future strategies in patients with NMIBC.
We aim to describe sleep health in a cohort of patients with NMIBC, and its relationship with quality of life (QOL).
We conducted an observational cross-sectional study in patients undergoing surveillance for NMIBC. The validated Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep health (scores from 0-21) in the overall study population as well as stratified. We assessed QOL among participants with and without poor sleep quality using the SF-12 and QLQ-NMIBC-24.
In a cohort of 94 NMIBC patients, median age was 67 years (IQR: 58, 72) and median time since initial diagnosis was 27 months (IQR: 9, 41). The mean PSQI score was 6.3 (SD: 3.8) and 64% percent of participants met or exceeded the PSQI cut-off score of 5, with a score of 5 or more indicating overall poor sleep quality. In those with poor sleep quality, there were statistically significant detriments in multiple QOL domains.
In patients undergoing surveillance for NMIBC, there is a substantial burden of sleep disturbances and resulting decrements in QOL. These data support the need for future interventions to support sleep quality and highlight the importance of addressing sleep health as part of NMIBC survivorship care to improve QOL in patients with NMIBC.
Bladder cancer is the tenth leading cause of cancer death in the United States (US). Advances in diagnosis, imaging, and treatments have led to improvements in bladder cancer management.
To evaluate longitudinal bladder cancer mortality trends from 1999–2020 in the US by gender, race, ethnicity, age, geographic region, and urbanization category.
Age-adjusted bladder cancer death and incidence rates of individuals in the US of all ages between 1999–2020 were obtained using the CDC WONDER and NAACCR databases. Trends and average annual percent changes (AAPC) in age-adjusted Bladder Cancer-Specific Mortality (BCSM) and incidence rates were estimated. Data were analyzed from May 2023 to October 2023.
From 1999–2020, overall BCSM decreased by 0.4% annually, with a dramatic decrease in deaths between 2015–2020 (AAPC: –2.0% [95% CI: –2.6,–1.3]). However, BCSM rates and metastatic malignant bladder cancer incidence rates from 1999–2020 increased for individuals≥85 years old (AAPC for BCSM: 0.8% [95% CI:0.5,1.1]; AAPC for metastatic malignant incidence: 2.5% [95% CI: 2.0,2.9]). Increases in BCSM were found for certain years in the South, in rural areas, and for Non-Hispanic White and Asian or Pacific Islander individuals.
Overall mortality from bladder cancer has been decreasing in the US over two decades. Upon disaggregation, increasing trends were found for BCSM and for metastatic malignant bladder cancer incidence for individuals≥85 years old from 1999–2020. Further evaluation of these trends is essential to understand how to target specific populations to improve patient outcomes.
A lack of standardization is pervasive in procedural application and reporting templates for TURBT with the use of a surgical checklist proposed as a means for quality improvement.
To introduce a TURBT checklist to assess surgeon prediction accuracy and the impact of standardized documentation on quality of resection and oncologic outcomes
Nine critical elements of a high-quality TURBT identified by literature review were incorporated into a prospectively implemented checklist for operative reports. The checklist included both visualized and predicted tumor characteristics. A retrospective single-institution analysis compared quality of dictation pre- and post-checklist implementation. Surgeon predictions were compared to final pathology reports to determine rates of concordance. Kaplan-Meier curves examined the association of checklist use with recurrence free survival (RFS).
333 operative reports were included in this analysis, of which 107 (32.1%) were completed pre-checklist implementation. The average number of critical elements reported was 8.69 with checklist use compared to 4.99 without (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in RFS between the pre- and post-checklist cohorts (log-rank test p = 0.53). Surgeons were least and most accurate in predicting low grade tumor (43.5%) and absence of muscle invasion (96.6%), respectively.
Incorporation of a TURBT surgical checklist improves operative dictation and quality of reporting but did not directly impact RFS. With quality of initial resection a proven correlate to recurrence rates, checklist implementation to improve surgical performance and long-term oncologic outcomes reveals an interesting area of exploration highlighting the need for more standardized methodology when performing these procedures.
Adjuvant bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is recommended for high-risk (HR) non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), but BCG shortages have led to exploration of reduced-dose regimens and shortened maintenance durations out of necessity, with limited data on treatment efficacy in Latin America.
Oncological outcomes of HR-NMIBC patients treated with reduced (RD,1/4th dose) vs full dose (FD) BCG instillations of Danish Strain 1331 BCG.
We performed a retrospective study of HR-NMIBC patients treated with BCG between 2003 and 2022 at our center in Santiago Chile. We stratified patients according to either RD (1/4th dose) or FD BCG. Univariate and multivariable Cox regression models were used to predict recurrence. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival estimates.
Of a total of 200 patients, 116 (58%) had RD and 84 (42%) FD BCG. Median follow-up was 57 months (IQR: 29–100). Patients who received FD BCG had a lower risk of recurrence (HR: 0.41, 95% CI 0.22–0.74) and high-grade (HG)-recurrence (HR: 0.30, 95% CI 0.15–0.61; p = 0.001). More patients in the RD vs FD group progressed to MIBC (10/84 vs 2/116; p = 0.18). Additionally, patients were less likely to stop BCG treatment in the RD group compared to the FD group due to toxicity (5% vs 11%, p = 0.14).
A 1/4th dose of Danish Strain 1331 BCG treatment was associated with worse recurrence free rate and HG-recurrence rate in our cohort. Patients with RD had lower discontinuation treatment rates due to a reduced toxicity profile. These findings would suggest that RD BCG would compromise oncological outcomes in HR-NMIBC patients.
Advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC) is an aggressive disease whose mutagenic processes are yet to be elucidated. Targeted therapies are urgently needed, but the road from bench to bedside is slowly progressing. In this review, we discuss urothelial carcinoma etiology, along with the most recent advances in UC candidate targeted therapies.
A comprehensive database search was performed. We aimed to review the most recent updates on UC genomics and targeted therapies. Pre-clinical as well as clinical studies were included.
Our review highlights the advances in understanding the molecular basis of urothelial tumorigenesis, including smoking, chemical parasitic carcinogens, inheritance, and APOBEC3 editing enzymes. We discussed how these factors contributed to the current mutational landscape of UC. Therapeutic options for UC are still very limited. However, several promising therapeutic approaches are in development to leverage our knowledge of molecular targets, such as targeting fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR), DNA damage repair pathways, and HER2.
Blindly testing targeted therapies based on other cancer data is not sufficient. UC-specific biomarkers are needed to precisely use the appropriate drug for the appropriate population. More efforts to understand UC biology and evolution are urgently needed.
In an accompanying paper, Mattias Hoglund discusses on what is a bladder cancer molecular subtype. He emphasizes the need to consider the aim of tumor classification, which is obviously critical to the approach. He also focuses on considering primarily the identity features of the neoplastic cells. Here, we provide a counterpoint. While largely agreeing with his views, we underline that other parameters that may vary in a spatial or temporal scale, and the tumor microenvironment, can also provide relevant information to render tumor classifications clinically useful. Furthermore, tumor heterogeneity and evolution during the disease course - natural or under therapeutic pressure - should be considered.