After radical cystectomy (RC), the pathologic complete response (pT0) among muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is considered a favorable oncological result. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) among the pT0 patients using a large-scale multicenter study. This study included 3,972 patients who underwent RC at 11 tertiary medical centers. Analysis was conducted on patients with MIBC who achieved a pT0, with a focus on comparing results between those who received NAC and those who did not. Recurrence-free survival (RFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed in these groups. Among 252 eligible pT0 patients, 121 were categorized in the non-NAC group while the remaining 131 were in the NAC group. As compared to the non-NAC group, the NAC group demonstrated significantly better survival outcomes, with 5-year RFS rates of 89% vs. 80% (p=0.043), OS rates of 84% vs. 69% (p=0.011), and CSS rates of 95% vs. 80% (p=0.007). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses demonstrated that NAC independently improved RFS (hazard ratio HR 0.192, p=0.002) and CSS (HR 0.200, p=0.020), but not OS (HR 0.672, p=0.263). In patients with MIBC who achieved a pT0, NAC administration prior to RC has a positive impact on oncological prognosis. Although further prospective studies are needed for validation, the results of this study will confirm the importance of NAC in MIBC.
Park et al. (Wed,) studied this question.