Prognostic impact of eligibility for adjuvant immunotherapy in locally advanced urothelial cancer

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of postoperative pathological findings related to the eligibility of adjuvant immunotherapy on oncologic outcomes in patients with localized and locally advanced muscle‐invasive bladder carcinoma (MIBC) and upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 1082 patients treated with radical cystectomy (n = 597) and nephroureterectomy (n = 485) between January 2000 and April 2021. Patients were divided into two groups: pT3‐4 or pN+ without neoadjuvant chemotherapy and ypT2‐4 or pN+ treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (trial‐eligible group) or others (trial‐ineligible group). The primary outcome was the effect of trial eligibility for adjuvant immunotherapy on disease‐free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Secondary outcomes included the additional effect of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) status to the clinical trial criteria on prognosis and a risk model development. RESULTS: The median ages of the patients were 69 and 72 years in the MIBC and UTUC groups, respectively. Fifty‐two percent of patients met the trial inclusion criteria. Trial eligibility was significantly associated with poor DFS and OS among patients with MIBC and UTUC. LVI‐positive status was significantly associated with poor prognosis among patients in the trial‐eligible group. A very high risk (LVI+ or pN+ among the pT3‐4 or ypT2‐4) was significantly associated with poor prognosis. CONCLUSION: A total of 52% of patients were eligible for adjuvant immunotherapy. Trial eligibility was significantly associated with a poor prognosis. LVI+ and pN+ may play a key role in candidate selection for adjuvant immunotherapy.