Bladder Adjuvant Radiotherapy: Phase III Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial of Adjuvant Radiotherapy or Observation for Postcystectomy Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
Abstract
Purpose: To report the primary analysis of a multicenter, phase III randomized trial of adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) after chemotherapy and radical cystectomy (RC) in patients with high-risk muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC).
Methods: Patients with nonmetastatic urothelial MIBC at high risk after RC (any one of: T3-4, N1-3, margin positive, ≤10 nodes dissected) were randomly assigned 1:1 to adjuvant RT or observation (Obs), stratified by nodal involvement (yes/no) and chemotherapy (neoadjuvant/adjuvant/none). Stoma-sparing IG-IMRT 50.4Gy in 28 fractions was prescribed to the cystectomy bed and pelvic nodes. The primary end point was 2-year locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and the secondary end points were disease-free survival (DFS), bladder cancer-specific survival (BCSS), and overall survival (OS).
Results: From June 2016 to May 2024, 153 patients were randomly assigned (Obs = 76, RT = 77), with 62% and 41% of patients having pT3-T4 and pN+ stages, respectively. Over 90% of the patients received systemic chemotherapy (71% neoadjuvant and 20% adjuvant), and none received immunotherapy. After a median follow-up of 47 months, the 2-year LRFS was significantly higher with adjuvant RT versus observation (87.1% v 76.0%, hazard ratio [HR], 0.43 [95% CI, 0.20 to 0.96], P = .04). The DFS was 71.6% versus 58.7% (HR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.36 to 1.05]), BCSS was 79.6% versus 65.0% (HR, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.33 to 1.10]), and OS was 70.4% versus 57.4% (HR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.49 to…
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Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design.
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