Cytoreductive cystectomy combined with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in the treatment of metastatic bladder cancer: A retrospective comparative study.
- 1Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Oncological Urology, National Cancer Institute, Kyiv, Ukraine.
- 2Nonprofit Organization «National Cancer Institute», Kyiv, Ukraine. Correspondence: Email: [email protected].
Abstract
Introduction
The role of cytoreductive surgery in metastatic bladder cancer remains controversial. While systemic chemotherapy is the standard of care, the potential benefit of combining chemotherapy with radical cystectomy in selected patients requires further evaluation.Material and methods
We performed a retrospective cohort study of 192 patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma treated between 2008 and 2022. Patients were divided into two groups: treatment with four cycles of gemcitabine-cisplatin followed by cytoreductive cystectomy in selected non-progressing patients (n = 90), and treatment with chemotherapy alone (n = 102). Median follow-up was 14.2 months. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression with adjustment for baseline characteristics.Results
Median CSS was longer in the cystectomy group compared to chemotherapy alone (19.6 vs 12.6 months, p = 0.03). Treatment-related toxicity was comparable between groups. Cytoreductive cystectomy also provided symptomatic relief in patients with local complications such as hematuria, pain, and urinary obstruction.Conclusions
Cytoreductive cystectomy combined with systemic chemotherapy may be associated with improved survival in carefully selected patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma. These findings should be interpreted with caution due to the retrospective design and potential selection bias.
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BibTeX
@article{hrechko2026cytoreductive,
title = {{Cytoreductive cystectomy combined with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in the treatment of metastatic bladder cancer: A retrospective comparative study.}},
author = {Bogdan O Hrechko and Oleg Voylenko and Iurii Vitruk and Oleksandr Stakhovsky and Oleksii Kononenko and Vladyslav Pishak and Eduard Stakhovsky},
journal = {Central European journal of urology},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.5173/ceju.2025.0278},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42904242},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Cytoreductive cystectomy combined with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in the treatment of metastatic bladder cancer: A retrospective comparative study.
AU - Bogdan O Hrechko
AU - Oleg Voylenko
AU - Iurii Vitruk
AU - Oleksandr Stakhovsky
AU - Oleksii Kononenko
AU - Vladyslav Pishak
AU - Eduard Stakhovsky
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/28
JO - Central European journal of urology
DO - 10.5173/ceju.2025.0278
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42904242
AB - Introduction The role of cytoreductive surgery in metastatic bladder cancer remains controversial. While systemic chemotherapy is the standard of care, the potential benefit of combining chemotherapy with radical cystectomy in selected patients requires further evaluation.Material and methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of 192 patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma treated between 2008 and 2022. Patients were divided into two groups: treatment with four cycles of gemcitabine-cisplatin followed by cytoreductive cystectomy in selected non-progressing patients (n = 90), and treatment with chemotherapy alone (n = 102). Median follow-up was 14.2 months. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression with adjustment for baseline characteristics.Results Median CSS was longer in the cystectomy group compared to chemotherapy alone (19.6 vs 12.6 months, p = 0.03). Treatment-related toxicity was comparable between groups. Cytoreductive cystectomy also provided symptomatic relief in patients with local complications such as hematuria, pain, and urinary obstruction.Conclusions Cytoreductive cystectomy combined with systemic chemotherapy may be associated with improved survival in carefully selected patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma. These findings should be interpreted with caution due to the retrospective design and potential selection bias.
SN - 2080-4806
SN - 2080-4873
ER -