Incidence, initial management and survival of high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in Northern France

Objective: Information on bladder cancer (BC) according to the risk scoring for recurrence or progression in a general population is scarce despite its clinical relevance. The objective was to describe the characteristics of incident BC in a general population, with a focus on the initial management of high-risk non-muscle invasive BC (HR-NMIBC). Materials: BC incident in 2011-2012 recorded in a population-based cancer registry were studied. Data was extracted from medical files. NMIBC were classified according to potential risk for recurrence/progression. Individual and tumor characteristics of incident BC were described. Incidence, initial management and survival (12/ 31/2021) of HR-NMIBC were assessed. Results: Among 538 BC cases, 380 were NMIBC [119 low (22.1%), 163 intermediate (30.3%), 98 high (18.2%) risk] and 147 (27.3%) were MIBC. HR-NMIBC diagnostic and therapeutic management [imaging, re-TUR, multidisciplinary team meetings (MDT) assessment, specific treatment] revealed discrepancies with guidelines recommendations. Seventy-two out of 98 cases were assessed in an MDT with a median time from diagnosis of 18 days [first quartile: 12- third quartile: 32]. Globally, treatment agreed with MDT decisions. Intravesical instillation was the most common treatment (n n = 56) but 27 HR-NMIBC did not receive specific treatment after TUR. Five and 10 years overall survival was 52% [42-63] and 41% [31-51], respectively. Five years net survival was 63% [47-75]. Conclusions: Despite National cancer plans aiming to improve care giving and despite the severity of HR-NMIBC, guideline-recommended patterns of care were underused in this region. This may deserve attention to identify obstacles to guideline adoption to try to improve BC patient care and survival. Level of evidence: 3 (c) 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.