High frequency of bladder cancer after nephroureterectomy: justification for adjuvant intravesical treatment?

BACKGROUND: Bladder recurrence after nephroureterectomy (NU) is common. However, there is no acceptable policy of adjuvant intravesical treatment after NU. OBJECTIVE: To assess the rate of bladder recurrence following NU and to identify the high-risk subgroups that may become candidates for adjuvant intravesical therapy after NU. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety-one patients (mean age 66.4 years) underwent NU. High-grade (HG) tumors were found in 63 patients and low-grade (LG) tumors in 28. Median follow-up was 72 months. The risk of bladder recurrence was assessed by uni- and multivariate analyses of patient and tumor characteristics. RESULTS: Bladder recurrence developed in 38 patients (41.8%) after a median period of 11 months. Among these, 25 patients with HG upper tract urothelial carcinoma (39.7%) and 13 patients with LG upper tract urothelial carcinoma (46.4%) developed recurrence. HG bladder recurrence developed in 24 patients (63.2%) and LG recurrence developed in 14 patients (36.8%). Stages pTa, pT1, pT2, or higher bladder recurrence developed in 26 (68.4%), 7 (18.4%), and 4 patients (10.5%), respectively, and pure pTis developed in 1 patient. On uni- and multivariate analyses, the risk of bladder recurrence was independent of any clinicopathologic characteristics. CONCLUSION: High rate and short time interval of bladder recurrence after NU were found, with no specific subgroup of patients with increased risk. These findings support prescribing adjuvant intravesical therapy to all patients after NU.