Chemotherapy after surgery may help bladder cancer patients

Chemotherapy after surgery may help bladder cancer patients

27 Feb 2015

Patients that received chemotherapy after bladder cancer surgery demonstrated an approximately 30% lower risk of death than those that underwent surgery alone. This is according to an analysis conducted by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Data from a large database of cancer diagnosed patients

Lead researcher Matthew Galsky, MD and colleagues used a large database of patients diagnosed with cancer in the United States. Of the 5,653 patients analyzed, 1,293 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy versus 4,360 patients who received surgery alone.

The study found that patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy after surgical treatment had improved overall survival when compared to patients that received surgical treatment alone with only post-surgical observation. Specifically, these patients demonstrated an approximately 30% lower risk of death than those that underwent surgery alone.

A study responding to an analysis gap

Clinical trials have established the benefit of giving chemotherapy prior to surgery (neoadjuvant chemotherapy) for patients with bladder cancer. However, clinical trials exploring giving chemotherapy after surgery (adjuvant chemotherapy) have been difficult to interpret and many of the trials closed early due to poor accrual without providing an answer.

"Until now, data supporting adjuvant chemotherapy has been mixed," said lead Dr. Galsky, Associate Professor of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, and Assistant Professor, Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He added that “This comparative effectiveness analysis may help inform the care of patients with bladder cancer who have not received chemotherapy prior to surgery."

 

Source: Science Daily