(I) To evaluate the clinical efficacy of three different BCG strains in patients with intermediate-/high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). (II) To determine the importance of performing routine secondary resection (re-TUR) in the setting of BCG maintenance protocol for the three strains.
NMIBCs who received an adjuvant induction followed by a maintenance schedule of intravesical immunotherapy with BCG Connaught, TICE and RIVM. Only BCG-naïve and those treated with the same strain over the course of follow-up were included. Cox proportional hazards model was developed according to prognostic factors by the Spanish Urological Oncology Group (CUETO) as well as by adjusting for the implementation of re-TUR.
n = 422 Ta-T1 patients (Connaught, n = 146; TICE, n = 112 and RIVM, n = 164) with a median (IQR) follow-up of 72 (60-85) were reviewed. Re-TUR was associated with improved recurrence and progression outcomes (HRRFS: 0.63; 95% CI 0.46-0.86; HRPFS: 0.55; 95% CI 0.31-0.86). Adjusting for CUETO risk factors and re-TUR, BGC TICE and RIVM provided longer RFS compared to Connaught (HRTICE: 0.58, 95% CI 0.39-0.86; HRRIVM: 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.87) while no differences were identified between strains for PFS and CSS. Sub-analysis of only re-TUR cases (n = 190, 45%) showed TICE the sole to achieve longer RFS compared to both Connaught and RIVM.
Re-TUR was confirmed to ensure longer RFS and PFS in intermediate-/high-risk NMIBCs but did not influence the relative single BCG strain efficacy. When routinely performing re-TUR followed by a maintenance BCG schedule, TICE was superior to the other strains for RFS outcomes.
Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology. 2021 Mar 06 [Epub ahead of print]
Francesco Del Giudice, Gian Maria Busetto, Martin S Gross, Martina Maggi, Alessandro Sciarra, Stefano Salciccia, Matteo Ferro, Isabella Sperduti, Simone Flammia, Vittorio Canale, Benjamin I Chung, Simon L Conti, Michael L Eisenberg, Eila C Skinner, Ettore De Berardinis
Department of Maternal-Infant and Urological Sciences, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161, Rome, Italy. ., Department of Maternal-Infant and Urological Sciences, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161, Rome, Italy., Section of Urology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, 03766, USA., Department of Urology, European Institute of Oncology (IEO), IRCCS, Milan, Italy., Biostatistical Unit, IRCCS, Regina Elena Hospital, Rome, Italy., Department of Urology, Stanford Medical Center, Stanford, CA, USA.
PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33675400