Clinical Practice Pattern of Immediate Intravesical Chemotherapy following Transurethral Resection of a Bladder Tumor in Korea: National Health Insurance Database Study

We evaluated the frequency and practice pattern of immediate postoperative intravesical chemotherapy (PIC) after transurethral resection of a bladder tumor (TURBT) in suspected non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Information from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2013 was used. Patients with bladder cancer who received TURBT were considered as the cases (37,941 patients and 59,568 cases). The time of PIC after TURBT, types of PIC regimens, and the potential effect of PIC on the delay for additional treatment were analyzed. The study cohort included 23,726 subjects and 30,473 cases with a mean age of 66.8 ± 12.0 years, including 19,362 (81.6%) male patients. The rate of immediate PIC was 11.0% of cases (3,359 cases). There was significant difference in the frequency rate of additional treatment among patients with immediate PIC and patients without immediate PIC within 1 year from the first TURBT (15.2% vs 16.6%, p = 0.035). However, no difference was revealed for whole observational period (33.7% vs 34.5%, p = 0.373). The frequency rate of immediate PIC after TURBT for suspected NMIBC was low in real clinical practice. More efforts are needed to improve the usage rate of PIC after TURBT for suspected NMIBC.