Adjuvant chemotherapy is associated with decreased mortality after radical cystectomy for locally advanced bladder cancer

We sought to evaluate the association of adjuvant chemotherapy with the risk of subsequent mortality among patients with locally advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the bladder undergoing radical cystectomy (RC). We identified 675 patients who underwent RC for pT2-4 and/or N+ UC between 1980 and 2005. Adjuvant chemotherapy was defined as treatment within 90 days of RC. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared according to receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy with the log-rank test. Multivariate models were used to analyze the impact of adjuvant chemotherapy on disease progression and survival. A total of 80 (12 %) patients received adjuvant chemotherapy. Median age was 69 years [interquartile range (IQR) 63, 76]. Median follow-up was 11 years (IQR 8, 16). Patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy were more likely to have pT3-4 tumors (71 vs. 61 %; p < 0.001) and pN+ (85 vs. 19 %; p < 0.001). The 5-year cancer-specific survival was 46 % in those receiving adjuvant chemotherapy and 51 % in those that did not (p = 0.63). The 5-year overall survival was 39 % in those receiving adjuvant chemotherapy and 38 % in those that did not (p = 0.24). When controlling for age, sex, stage, and performance status, adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a 29 % decrease in the risk of bladder cancer death (HR 0.71, p = 0.06) and a 39 % decrease in the risk of all-cause mortality (HR 0.61, p = 0.002). After controlling patient and tumor features, adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a trend toward reduction in cancer-specific mortality and a statistically significant reduction in all-cause mortality.