Causes of death in female patients with bladder cancer after local tumor excision and radical cystectomy: a contemporary, US population-based analysis

Surgery is one of the most important treatments for bladder cancer, including local tumor excision and radical cystectomy. At present, studies on the causes of death for contemporary survivors, especially women, who have received different surgical treatments are limited. Therefore, the study used a population-based cohort study in the United States from 2000 to 2017 to analyze causes of death for women who underwent local tumor excision or radical cystectomy stratified by demographics and tumor stage. standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated based on general population data. In total, 24,040 female patients who underwent surgical treatments were assessed. Of those 20,780 patients undergoing local tumor excision, 36.6% died of bladder cancer, while 63.4% died of other causes. The risk of death from all causes increased in comparation with the general population (SMR 1.85; 95% CI 1.82–1.87), and the most common non-tumor cause of death was from heart diseases (16.2%; SMR 1.13; 95% CI 1.09–1.16). Among women who receive radical cystectomy, 82.3% of deaths occurred within 5 years after surgery. 66.9% deaths resulted from bladder cancer, and the risk of death from all causes significantly higher than that in the general people (SMR 4.67; 95% CI 4.51–4.84). Moreover, the risk of death from non- bladder cancer causes also increased, in particular, such as septicemia (SMR 3.09; 95% CI 2.13–4.34). Causes of death during bladder cancer survivorship after surgery vary by patient and tumor characteristics, and these data provide information regarding primary care for women during postoperative cancer survivorship.