OBJECTIVE: To investigate the lymph node invasion (LNI) rate in patients exhibiting complete pathological response (CR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and to test the association of CR status with lower LNI and better survival outcomes.
METHODS: We included patients with bladder cancer (BCa; cT2-4a; cN0; cM0) treated with NAC and radical cystectomy (RC) + pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) at our institution between 2012 and 2022 (N = 157). CR (ypT0) and LNI (ypN+) were defined at final pathology. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to test the association between CR and LNI after adjusting for number of lymph nodes removed (NLR). Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to assess overall survival (OS), metastasis-free survival (MFS) and disease free-survival (DFS) according to CR status.
RESULTS: Overall CR and LNI rates were 40.1% and 19%, respectively. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) NLR was 26 (19-36). The LNI rate was lower in patients with CR vs those without CR (2 [3.2%] vs 61 [29.8%]; P < 0.001). After adjusting for NLR, CR reduced the LNI risk by 93% (odds ratio 0.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.01-0.25; P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier plots depicted better 5-year OS (69.7 vs 52.2%), MFS (68.3 vs 45.5%) and DFS (66.6 vs 43.5%) in patients with CR vs those without CR. After multivariable adjustments, CR independently reduced the risk of death (hazard ratio [HR] 0.44, 95% CI 0.24-0.81; P = 0.008), metastatic progression (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.23-0.71; P = 0.002) and disease progression (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.24-0.70; P = 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, we postulate that PLND could potentially be omitted in patients exhibiting CR after NAC, due to negligible risk of LNI. Prospective Phase II trials are needed to explore this challenging hypothesis.

UNASSIGNED: The \"gold standard\" treatment for Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is radical cystectomy and different management approaches that combine chemotherapy and radiation in a neoadjuvant or adjuvant setting have been attempted with varying degrees of effectiveness. For certain individuals, partial cystectomy offers sufficient local control for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Lifelong follow-up with cystoscopy is advised due to the possibility of potentially fatal late recurrence.
UNASSIGNED: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the bladder is a rare urologic malignancy that is estimated to affect 3%-5% of the bladder cases. SCC of the bladder remains the most common subtype throughout Africa. Most of the literatures focused on the management of Urothelial carcinoma (UC), with fewer discussions on SCC management. UC typically presents with painless hematuria, whereas SCC presents with painful hematuria, bladder mass, and necroturia. SCC is mostly radioresistant and does not respond to chemotherapy. The mainstay treatment is partial cystectomy or radical cystectomy, which can be performed through open surgery or laparoscopic or robot-assisted approaches, all of which have acceptable results. We report a patient with a favorable outcome following partial cystectomy who was managed by open surgery. At the 12-month follow-up, the patient remained asymptomatic with good surgical outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (dd-MVAC) with gemcitabine-based regimens for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients treated in Japan.
METHODS: Data for MIBC patients who received NAC-dd-MVAC followed by a radical cystectomy from June 2019 to May 2023 performed at our hospital were analyzed. For comparisons, data for MIBC patients who received NAC gemcitabine and cisplatin (GC) or gemcitabine and carboplatin (GCarbo) therapy between January 2010 and March 2019 were also obtained. Rates of ypT1N0 or less, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and NAC adverse effects were compared between the GC/GCarbo and dd-MVAC regimens.
RESULTS: Results for 32 patients who received dd-MVAC and 30 who received GC/GCarbo NAC therapy were analyzed. ypT1N0 or less was noted in 40.7% of the dd-MVAC and 40.0% of the GC/GCarbo groups, while ypT0N0 rates were 25% and 10%, respectively, with no statistical differences noted. However, Kaplan-Meier analysis of the total cohort demonstrated that dd-MVAC was associated with significantly better PFS and OS rates than GG/GCarbo (hazard ratios: 0.33, p = 0.0237, and 0.23, p = 0.0127, respectively). Propensity-matched models also showed similar results for both PFS and OS. Adverse effects of dd-MVAC were acceptable and the incidence of hematologic toxicity was lower as compared with GC/GCarbo therapy.
CONCLUSIONS: The present study is the first to show that dd-MVAC as NAC can provide better survival as compared with a gemcitabine-based regimen for patients with MIBC treated in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: To describe patient characteristics and pathological stage at bladder cancer (BCa) diagnosis in a diverse population within a national, equal-access healthcare system.
METHODS: This retrospective cohort study identified 15 966 men diagnosed with BCa in the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system from 2000 to 2020. The primary outcome was pathological stage at diagnosis, determined by index transurethral resection of bladder tumour. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between race and stage. Competing risk models tested the association between race and BCa-specific mortality with cumulative incidence estimates.
RESULTS: Of 15 966 BCa patients, 12 868 (81%), 1726 (11%), 493 (3%) and 879 (6%) were White, Black, Hispanic and Other race, respectively. Black patients had significantly higher muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) rates than White patients (35% vs 32%; P = 0.009). In multivariable analysis, the odds of presenting with MIBC did not differ significantly between Black and White patients (odds ratio [OR] 1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98-1.22) or between Hispanic patients (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.67-1.01) and White patients. Compared to White patients, Black patients had a similar risk of BCa-specific mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.89, 95% CI 0.75-1.06), whereas Hispanic patients had a lower risk (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.38-0.82).
CONCLUSIONS: Black patients presented with the highest rates of de novo MIBC. However, in a large, equal-access healthcare system, this did not result in a difference in BCa-specific mortality. In contrast, Hispanic patients had lower risks of MIBC and BCa-specific mortality.

Muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is a disease characterized by molecular and clinical heterogeneity, posing challenges in selecting the most appropriate treatment in clinical settings. Considering the significant role of CD4+ T cells, there is an emerging need to integrate CD4+ T cells with molecular subtypes to refine classification. We conducted a comprehensive study involving 895 MIBC patients from four independent cohorts. The Zhongshan Hospital (ZSHS) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohorts were included to investigate chemotherapeutic response. The IMvigor210 cohort was included to assess the immunotherapeutic response. NCT03179943 was used to evaluate the clinical response to a combination of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) and chemotherapy. Additionally, we evaluated genomic characteristics and the immune microenvironment to gain deeper insights into the distinctive features of each subtype. We unveiled four immune-molecular subtypes, each exhibiting distinct clinical outcomes and molecular characteristics. These subtypes include luminal CD4+ Thigh, which demonstrated benefits from both immunotherapy and chemotherapy; luminal CD4+ Tlow, characterized by the highest level of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) mutation, thus indicating potential responsiveness to FGFR inhibitors; basal CD4+ Thigh, which could benefit from a combination of ICB and chemotherapy; and basal CD4+ Tlow, characterized by an immune suppression microenvironment and likely to benefit from transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) inhibition. This immune-molecular classification offers new possibilities for optimizing therapeutic interventions in MIBC.

BACKGROUND: Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) is a pathway for the standardized imaging and reporting of bladder cancer staging using multiparametric (mp) MRI.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate additional role of morphological (MOR) measurements to VI-RADS for the detection of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) with mpMRI.
METHODS: Retrospective.
METHODS: A total of 198 patients (72 MIBC and 126 NMIBC) underwent bladder mpMRI was included.
UNASSIGNED: 3.0 T/T2-weighted imaging with fast-spin-echo sequence, spin-echo-planar diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging with fast 3D gradient-echo sequence.
RESULTS: VI-RADS score and MOR measurement including tumor location, number, stalk, cauliflower-like surface, type of tumor growth, tumor-muscle contact margin (TCM), tumor-longitudinal length (TLL), and tumor cellularity index (TCI) were analyzed by three uroradiologists (3-year, 8-year, and 15-year experience of bladder MRI, respectively) who were blinded to histopathology.
METHODS: Significant MOR measurements associated with MIBC were tested by univariable and multivariable logistic regression (LR) analysis with odds ratio (OR). Area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with DeLong\'s test and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to compared the performance of unadjusted vs. adjusted VI-RADS. A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: TCM (OR 9.98; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.77-20.8), TCI (OR 5.72; 95% CI 2.37-13.8), and TLL (OR 3.35; 95% CI 1.40-8.03) were independently associated with MIBC at multivariable LR analysis. VI-RADS adjusted by three MORs achieved significantly higher AUC (reader 1 0.908 vs. 0.798; reader 2 0.906 vs. 0.855; reader 3 0.907 vs. 0.831) and better clinical benefits than unadjusted VI-RADS at DCA. Specially in VI-RADS-defined equivocal lesions, MOR-based adjustment resulted in 55.5% (25/45), 70.4% (38/54), and 46.4% (26/56) improvement in accuracy for discriminating MIBC in three readers, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: MOR measurements improved the performance of VI-RADS in detecting MIBC with mpMRI, especially for equivocal lesions.
METHODS: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

UNASSIGNED: Muscle-invasive bladder cancer following radiotherapy for prostate cancer is rare. We reported a case of muscle-invasive bladder cancer who underwent robot-assisted radical cystectomy following radiotherapy for prostate cancer.
UNASSIGNED: A 72-year-old man was referred to our division with a muscle-invasive bladder cancer. He had a history of intensity-modulated radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer. After three courses of platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy, he obtained a radiologic complete response. He elected for robot-assisted radical cystectomy, standard lymph node dissection, and intracorporeal ileal conduit urinary diversion. Pathological findings revealed no residual tumor within the bladder and residual tumor in the prostate. He had discharged without any complications; and quality of life had improved.
UNASSIGNED: A robot-assisted approach might be a potential option for well-selected patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who have previously received radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer.