Synergo for High-risk NMIBC

Urology Cancer specialists,

We are proud and honoured to share an article published in October 2020, by Denosshan Sri et al. St Georges Urology Centre (London) on Urologic Oncology. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2020.09.016

Cystectomy outcomes in patients who have failed Radiofrequency-induced Thermo-chemotherapeutic Effect Mitomycin-C (RITE-MMC) treatment for high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (HRNMIBC) -Does it complicate surgery and adversely impact oncological outcome?

Denosshan Sri, Hack Jae Lee, Sarah El-Gemmal, Chris Backhouse, Andrea Tay, Babbin John, Matthew J Perry, Benjamin E Ayres, Rami Issa St. George's Hospital, London, UK

Highlights for Review

Radiofrequency-Induced Thermo-chemotherapeutic Effect Mitomycin (RITE-MMC) can be an alternative in BCG failure.

RITE-MMC treatment does not result in a technically more challenging cystectomy.

RITE-MMC treatment does not compromise oncological outcome compared to those patients undergoing cystectomy immediately post BCG failure.

The article presents a retrospective study of a prospective cystectomy database. Inclusion criteria were HRNMIBC with BCG failure undergoing cystectomy.

Thirty-six patients who received RITE-MMC underwent cystectomy, compared to 102 that did not. Median ages were comparable at 72 and 69 years, respectively. Patients were followed up for a median of 24 months across the 2 groups. The commonest histological stage in both groups was CIS. There were no significant differences in intraoperative blood loss, length of stay and 90-day readmission between the 2 groups. There were proportionally fewer recurrences in the RITE-MMC group (16% vs. 19%) and median time to recurrence was longer in the RITE-MMC group (37 months vs. 24 months). Multivariate analysis did not reveal a significant correlation between pre-op RITE-MMC and post-operative readmission (P = 0.606). Survival curves show no significant difference in time to recurrence across both groups (P = 0.513), and no overall (P = 0.069) or cancer specific mortality (P = 0.129) dis-advantage was noted in the RITE-MMC group.

Conclusion
We have found that RITE-MMC treatment does not result in a technically more challenging cystectomy and does not compromise oncological outcome compared to those patients undergoing cystectomy immediately post-BCG failure. We feel RITE-MMC remains a useful tool in a carefully selected group of patients who may not be willing to accept the morbidity of a cystectomy at the time, without significantly compromising their long-term outcome.

 

Medical Enterprises’s commentary:

St Georges University Hospital Urological centre is one of the leading Referral Centres of Synergo worldwide and its dedicated team accumulated a vast experience over the past 16 years with Synergo Radiofrequency-Induced ThermoChemotherapy (RITE).

One may note that, as such, the referrals to the hospital for cystectomy constitutes a very high number, and seeing the relatively few cystectomies carried out on patients whom previously received radiofrequency treatment in the bladder prompts hope for many patients who opt to preserve their bladders despite the indication for a radical surgery.

This researcher’s group has presented their bladder preservation study in over 10 years follow-up (Link to the study), and this new article sheds light on the possibility of administering RITE as a last step before radical cystectomy (as recurrence and progression rates are oncologically similar), while in the relatively low percentage of patients who would fail this modality over time, a surgery would not impose a greater risk of complications than in an early cystectomy.