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Urothelial carcinoma management in elderly or

unfit patients*
Joaquim Bellmunt a,b,*, Nicolas Mottet c, Maria De Santis d

a
Bladder Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
b
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
c
Department of Urology, CHU de Saint-Etienne, University Jean Monnet, St Etienne, France
d
University of Warwick, Cancer Research Unit, Coventry, UK
article info these patients. The delegates discussed potential therapies,

from neoadjuvant treatment to combinations or sequential
Article history: regimens, maintenance therapy up to second-line manage-
Received 1 December 2015 ment, and future treatment opportunities that could improve
Received in revised form on current patient outcomes. Molecular specificities and
18 January 2016 future perspectives of UC were also discussed. Each individual
Accepted 21 January 2016 topic of the meeting is outlined in the chapters below.
Keywords:
Urothelial carcinoma
2. Defining ‘difficult-to-treat patients’ with UC
Upper tract urothelial carcinoma
Maria De Santis, United Kingdom
Chemotherapy
Cisplatin
2.1. Bladder cancer is a disease of the elderly
Vinflunine
Cisplatin ‘unfit’ patients
In the European Union, there were 118,365 new bladder cancer
cases in 2012 (>500,000 worldwide), with a prevalence of
389,287 cases, and 39,522 deaths. Bladder cancer incidence
peaks around the 7th decade (from the age of 60), and about
20% of patients are aged >80 years. The disease is the 4th most
common cancer in males and the 15th in females [1]. Bladder
cancer treatment is on a course to becoming an enormous
1. Introduction challenge in the context of an increasingly ageing population.
Overall, the fastest growing population segment is that
Strategies to improve cancer care in the field of urothelial aged 80 years or older, which has increased from 13.8 million
carcinoma (UC) in the elderly or in patients unfit to receive in 1950 to 69.2 million in 2000; it is expected to further rise to
cisplatin treatment are urgently needed. This effort requires 379.0 million by 2050 [2]. Due to increased life expectancy and
multidisciplinary collaboration to provide the best care for improved diagnostic techniques, cancers are more frequently
these patients. diagnosed, resulting in higher incidence and prevalence rates.
An international multidisciplinary summit was held in Consequently, more elderly patients will require cancer
Geneva on April 11th 2015 to discuss unmet medical needs in treatment.
urothelial cancer. Key topics covered in the meeting included Evidence-based guidelines recommend radical cystectomy
defining difficult-to-treat UC patients and the challenges (RC) for patients with stage II muscle-invasive bladder cancer
encountered with both surgical and systemic treatment in (MIBC). However, according to the Surveillance, Epidemiology,
*
Proceedings from an international multidisciplinary summit, Geneva, April 2015.
* Corresponding author: Tel.: þ1 617 632 3237; fax: þ1 617 632 2165.
E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Bellmunt).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcsup.2016.01.001
1359-6349/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
2 e j c s u p p l e m e n t s 1 4 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 1 e2 0
and End Results database, only 21% of 3262 patients over the physiological age and improve anti-cancer treatment. How-
age of 65 underwent RC [3]. Older age at diagnosis and higher ever, because the CGA is a resource-consuming process that is
comorbidity were associated with decreased odds of receiving not necessary in all patients, several geriatric screening tools
cystectomy, even if overall survival (OS) was better for those have been developed to identify elderly cancer patients who
who underwent cystectomy compared with those who would benefit from a CGA and multidisciplinary approach
received alternative treatments (chemotherapy and/or radia- (reviewed in [15]). With the Flemish version of the Triage Risk
tion) [3]. Similarly, according to the U.S. National Cancer Data Screening Tool and Vulnerable Elders Survey-13, the G-8
Base, out of 28,691 patients with clinical T2eT4a, N0e3 MIBC, geriatric screening tool is one of the most studied tools, and
no potentially curative therapy was delivered to 47.5% of pa- has the highest sensitivity [15]. The G-8 total score ranges
tients. Use of RC declined dramatically with advancing age [4]. from 0e17, with a cut-off value of 14 (14 and above being
Thus, guideline-recommended RC is underused for patients favourable, and <14 indicating impairment, which requires
with MIBC, particularly in elderly patients. The reasons that CGA). The vast majority of users (98.7%) complete the test in
make bladder cancer unresectable or inoperable are either less than 10 min (Table 1) [19].
related to the tumour itself or to the patient. First, extensive Thus, a treatment algorithm can be derived, based on G-8
local tumours (stage T4) might be technically inoperable; the screening scores (Fig. 1). ‘Fit’ patients are those with a score of
option of shrinking the tumour with chemotherapy may be 14 and above and they require no geriatric assessment.
considered. Second, inoperability may be due to patient age or ‘Vulnerable’ and ‘frail’ patients are those with a score below
comorbidities (renal function impairment, cardiovascular 14 and require geriatric assessment. In the case of ‘vulnerable’
disease, etc.). Other potential factors defining cystectomy patients, geriatric interventions can reverse various comor-
candidates include functional (physical) status, adequacy of bidities such as abnormal activities of daily living (ADL) grades
social support and psychological state, nutritional status, I or II, malnutrition, depression, or cumulative illness rating
cognitive status, economic and environmental status [5]. scale for geriatrics (CISR-G) grades I or II. ‘Frail’ patients are
In the context of the overall ageing population and the those for whom geriatric interventions cannot reverse
expected increase in incidence of invasive cancer in patients comorbidities, such as abnormal ADL 3, severe malnutrition,
above the age of 65 years [6], comorbidities in elderly pa- cognitive impairment, CISR-G grades III or IV [19].
tients associated with prognostic implications must be taken In cancer patients as a whole, it is becoming increasingly
into account by treating physicians. In uro-oncology, age- clear that treatment should be adapted to health status. On
related physiological changes and comorbidities affect the one hand, ‘fit’ patients should receive the same standard
treatment choices and outcomes. Comorbidities in the treatment as younger patients, corresponding to approxi-
bladder cancer population include renal function impair- mately 50% of men aged 70e75 years and about 25% of men
ment, cardiovascular disease, neuropathy and hearing loss. aged 80e85 years. ‘Vulnerable’ patients require geriatric
Cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are intervention followed by standard treatment. On the other
more prevalent in the elderly (>65 years) [7e9]. In addition, hand, ‘frail’ patients should receive geriatric intervention
10e25% of individuals over the age of 65 are characterised as followed by adapted or palliative treatment, and those who
frail [10]. Older and ‘unfit’ bladder cancer patients are are ‘too sick’ should receive palliative treatment only [20].
frequently underrepresented in clinical trials [11e13].
Importantly, not all individuals over the age of 65 are 2.3. Conclusions
‘elderly.’ A distinction between chronological and functional
age must be made. Fit 70-year-olds with adequate renal Performing a geriatric approach as part of a collaborative
function tolerate cisplatin-based chemotherapy as well as multidisciplinary effort is simply equivalent to good medicine.
their younger counterparts and achieve comparable clinical It is important to invest time in the care of elderly patients, in
outcomes [14]. Patients should be routinely categorised ac- order to ultimately save time, provide better treatment and
cording to their physiological age in order to gauge whether quality of life for these patients. Strategies to improve cancer
elderly bladder cancer patients are fit enough to receive care in the elderly are urgently needed.
cisplatin, which forms the backbone of standard chemo-
therapeutic treatment.
3. Limitations of local treatment and
2.2. Geriatric screening tools alternative options in invasive bladder tumours
Nicolas Mottet, France
Elderly cancer patients are a heterogeneous group with
respect to overall health status, due to differences in 3.1. Local treatment: standard of care
comorbidities, functional status, geriatric syndromes and so-
cioeconomic aspects. Although it is not standard, the The standard or care in MIBC is neoadjuvant chemotherapy
comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is recommended followed by RC and pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND).
for routine use in the older patient population with cancer by Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is recommended for T2eT4a,
several societies, including the International Society of Geri- cN0M0 bladder cancer, and should always be cisplatin-based
atric Oncology [15,16] and the National Comprehensive Can- combination therapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is not rec-
cer Network [17]. The CGA can distinguish fit patients from ommended in patients who are ineligible for cisplatin-based
vulnerable or frail patients more precisely than physician's combination chemotherapy. Surgical intervention or multi-
evaluations [18], in order to provide an estimate of modality treatments are the preferred curative therapeutic
e j c s u p p l e m e n t s 1 4 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 1 e2 0 3
Table 1 e The G-8 questionnaire [19].

Items Possible responses (score)
A Has food intake declined over the past 3 months due to loss of appetite, 0 ¼ severe decrease in food intake
digestive problems, chewing, or swallowing difficulties? 1 ¼ moderate decrease in food intake
2 ¼ no decrease in food intake
B Weight loss during the last 3 months? 0 ¼ weight loss >3 kg
1 ¼ does not know
2 ¼ weight loss between 1 and 3 kg
3 ¼ no weight loss
C Mobility? 0 ¼ bed or chair bound
1 ¼ able to get out of bed/chair but does not go out
2 ¼ goes out
E Neuropsychological problems? 0 ¼ severe dementia or depression
1 ¼ mild dementia
2 ¼ no psychological problems
F BMI? (weight in kg)/(height in m2) 0 ¼ BMI <19
1 ¼ BMI 19e<21
2 ¼ BMI 21e<23
3 ¼ BMI 23
H Takes more than three prescription drugs per day? 0 ¼ yes
1 ¼ no
P In comparison with other people of the same age, how does the patient 0.0 ¼ not as good
consider his/her health status? 0.5 ¼ does not know
1.0 ¼ as good
2.0 ¼ better
Age 0: >85
1: 80e85
2: <80
Total score 0e17
BMI, body mass index.

Reproduced from Bellera CA, Rainfray M, Mathoulin-Pe lissier S, et al. Screening older cancer patients: first evaluation of the G-8 geriatric
screening tool. Ann Oncol 2012;23:2166e72. With permission from Oxford University Press.
approaches, as they are more effective than radiotherapy (RT) most likely to benefit from radical surgery and to optimise
alone. Multimodality treatment could be offered as an alter- treatment outcomes. The decision regarding bladder-sparing
native in selected, well-informed and compliant patients, or RC in elderly/geriatric patients with MIBC should be based
especially for whom cystectomy is not an option [21]. Strati- on tumour stage and comorbidity best quantified by a vali-
fying elderly patients according to their riskebenefit profile dated score [21] and patient's wishes, and not on the patient's
using a multidisciplinary approach will help to select patients age.
Fig. 1 e The G-8 geriatric screening tool (based on [19]). ADL, activities of daily living; CISR-G, cumulative illness rating scale
for geriatrics; IADL, instrumental activities of daily living.
3.2. Cystectomy to reliably determine the effect of single-agent cisplatin on

survival [29].
3.2.1. Undertreatment of MIBC A Medical Research Council/European Organisation for
Evidence-based guidelines recommend RC for patients with Research and Treatment of Cancer (MRC/EORTC) trial pre-
MIBC, but many patients receive alternative therapies, such as sented the long-term results (median follow-up 8 years) of the
chemotherapy or radiation. A U.S. National Cancer Database international multicentre randomised trial that investigated
study found that potentially curative aggressive therapy (i.e. the use of neoadjuvant cisplatin, methotrexate, and vinblas-
radical or partial cystectomy or definitive radiation/chemo- tine (CMV) chemotherapy in patients with MIBC treated by
radiotherapy [CRT, total dose 50 Gy]) was only delivered to cystectomy and/or RT (of note, 17% were older than 70 years).
52.5% of patients, and use of aggressive therapy significantly Results showed a statistically significant 16% reduction in the
decreased with advancing age (Fig. 2) [4]. risk of death (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.72e0.99; p ¼ 0.037, corre-
Other studies have shown that cystectomy is underused in sponding to an increase in 10-year survival from 30e36%) after
senior adults, including analyses stratifying patients by T CMV. In MIBC, neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by
stage [22,23]. Further, a study on bladder cancer patterns of definitive local therapy should be viewed as state of the art,
care observed that cystectomy for muscle-invasive disease compared with cystectomy or RT alone [30].
was influenced by patient age and geographic region and not
by comorbidities [24]. 3.4. Adjuvant chemotherapy
3.2.2. Survival data The role of postoperative adjuvant cisplatin-based chemo-

Even though cystectomy is underused in MIBC, it is associated therapy compared with control (surgery alone) in the man-
with better survival, independently of age, socio-economic agement of MIBC has been assessed in a meta-analysis
status and serious comorbidity [25e27]. Tumour stage and involving 945 patients from nine randomised controlled trials
number of lymph nodes removed have an impact on specific (RCTs). For OS, the pooled HR across all nine trials was 0.77
survival. (95% CI, 0.59e0.99; p ¼ 0.049) [31].
Therefore, even if older patients have a higher American After stratification of studies by nodal involvement, the HR
Society of Anesthesiologists score, and receive less adjuvant for disease-free survival (DFS) associated with adjuvant
treatment, they should not be denied RC if they are deemed fit cisplatin-based chemotherapy in studies where more than
to undergo surgery [26,27]. Studies confirm that a considerable 50% of patients had pNþ was 0.39 (95% CI, 0.28e0.54),
proportion of elderly patients benefit from RC with curative compared with an HR of 0.89 (95% CI, 0.69e1.15) when less
intent. Of note, postoperative outcomes after RC depend on than 50% of patients were pNþ. Thus, according to this review,
surgeon experience and case load [28]. postoperative adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy mainly
benefits patients with nodal involvement. Furthermore adju-
vant chemotherapy will never be able to compensate for poor
3.3. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy surgical procedure, such as omitting the extended lymph node
dissection (LND) [32].
A systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the effect of The EORTC 30994 study compared immediate versus de-
neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with ferred cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy after RC in
invasive bladder cancer. Based on 11 trials involving 3005 patients with pT3epT4 or Nþ M0 UC of the bladder. In total,
patients, a significant survival benefit associated with 284 (out of 660 planned) patients were randomly assigned (141
cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy (hazard ratio to immediate treatment and 143 to deferred treatment), and
[HR] ¼ 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.77e0.95, p ¼ 0.003) after a median follow-up of 7 years, 47% of patients in the
was observed, equivalent to a 5% absolute improvement in immediate treatment group had died compared with 57% in
survival at 5 years. However, there was not sufficient evidence the deferred treatment group. No significant improvement in
Fig. 2 e Distribution of primary therapies received by MIBC patients by age group [4]. Reproduced with permission.
© European Association of Urology 2012.
OS was noted with immediate treatment when compared cystectomy and/or RT [30], there was no evidence that neo-
with deferred treatment [33]. However, these results are un- adjuvant CMV was more or less effective when combined with
derpowered and still inconclusive, while suggesting a survival either RT or cystectomy. For locoregional DFS, there was some
benefit only in node-negative patients. Therefore, no formal evidence of a greater impact with CMV over no CMV given
conclusion can be made regarding which patients benefit the before cystectomy than the same chemotherapy given before
most from adjuvant chemotherapy. RT. However, this comparison is limited, as the patient groups
cannot be compared due to differences in patient and tumour
3.5. CRT with transurethral resection of the bladder characteristics (tumour stage, N0 nodal status, and perfor-
mance status [PS]).
Radiotherapy is an alternative to cystectomy in MIBC patients. In summary, CRT with TURB results in optimal outcomes,
Numerous phase I/II studies have shown that CRT with tran- provided the tumour is a single lesion T2, complete TURB is
surethral resection of the bladder (TURB) is feasible and safe. performed, there is no hydronephrosis or tumour invasion into
Three phase III studies have demonstrated a benefit in terms prostate stroma, the patient has a well functioning bladder,
of local control compared to RT alone: (i) RT versus and no carcinoma in situ. A formal efficacy comparison be-
RT þ cisplatin [34]; (ii) RT versus RT þ nicotinamide/carbogen tween this bladder-sparing approach and a RC is still lacking.
[35]; (iii) RT versus RT þ fluorouracil/mitomycin C [36]. The
latter randomly assigned 360 MIBC patients with a median age 3.6. TURB alone
of 72 years. At 2 years, the rates of locoregional DFS were 67%
(95% CI, 59e74) in the CRT group and 54% (95% CI, 46e62) in the A Spanish study analysed the long-term results of an aggres-
RT group. Five-year OS rates were 48% (95% CI, 40e55) in the sive TURB for MIBC treatment in patients who were biopsied
CRT group and 35% (95% CI, 28e43) in the RT group (HR, 0.82; in the deep muscle layer of the tumour bed. A comparison to a
95% CI, 0.63e1.09; p ¼ 0.16). control group of 76 patients with invasive pathological stage
A combined analysis of six prospective Radiation Therapy pT2e3a, N0-3 bladder cancer treated with RC was performed.
Oncology Group (RTOG) protocols evaluated bladder- At 5 and 10 years of follow-up, cause-specific survival rates
preserving combined-modality therapy (CMT, all of which were 80.5% and 74.5%, respectively. No significant difference
included cisplatin) in 468 MIBC patients (median age 66 years was noted in terms of cause-specific survival with respect to
[range, 34e93 years, 36% were >70 years], clinical T stage the control group. For patients with invasive bladder cancer,
T2eT4a). With a median follow-up of 4.3 years among all pa- radical TURB might be an option when the tumour is clinically
tients and 7.8 years among survivors (n ¼ 205), the 5- and 10- limited to the muscular layer and when all biopsies of the
year OS rates were 57% and 36%, respectively, and the 5- and periphery and depth of the tumour bed show muscular tissue
10-year disease-specific survival (DSS) rates were 71% and negative for tumour cells [41].
65%, respectively. This pooled analysis of multicentre, pro- Another study determined the 10-year outcome of MIBC
spective RTOG bladder-preserving CMT protocols suggests patients treated with TURB alone. Of 432 patients (tumour
long-term DSS comparable to modern immediate cystectomy stage T2, N0, M0), 151 had a restaging TUR of the primary
studies, for patients with similarly staged MIBC [37]. tumour site showing no (T0) or only non-muscle-invasive (T1)
Additional reports from multiple institutional and coop- residual tumour. 52 patients opted for immediate RC, while 99
erative group studies have shown that this approach is safe chose a bladder-sparing approach. The 10-year DSS was 76%
and effective, with OS rates similar to RC in well-selected of 99 patients who accepted to receive TURB as definitive
patients [38,39]. The best cancers eligible for bladder preser- therapy (57% with bladder preserved) compared with 71% of
vation are those with low-volume T2 disease without hydro- 52 patients who had immediate cystectomy (p ¼ 0.3). The
nephrosis or extensive carcinoma in situ [39] and treated study suggested that radical TURB is a successful bladder-
initially with a thorough TURB (as complete as possible). Thus, sparing therapeutic strategy in selected patients who have
concomitant CRT is emerging as an attractive alternative for no residual tumour on a repeat extended resection of the
bladder preservation in selected MIBC patients, provided, pa- primary tumour [42].
tients be fit enough to receive the chemotherapy drugs.
In order to address whether cystectomy is better than 3.7. Partial cystectomy
external-beam radiotherapy, the survival benefit achieved
with RC was compared with ERBT in patients with MIBC There is very little evidence on partial cystectomy in MIBC
stratified by age. Those who underwent RC had an OS patients. The most recently published study was a retro-
advantage in all age groups, except for octogenarians (18 spective analysis that included 101 patients followed-up for a
versus 15 months). Patients above the age of 80 who receive RC median of 53 months [43]. Multivariate analysis showed that
with a limited PLND or RC alone showed little (16 versus 15 prior history of UC was associated with a decrease of both
months) or no survival benefit. However, DSS was signifi- cancer-specific survival (CSS) and recurrence-free survival
cantly higher in patients who underwent RC, including octo- (RFS), and was weakly associated with OS; while lymphovas-
genarians. Even if this comparison is limited by its cular invasion (LVI) and ureteral reimplantation were associ-
retrospective nature, it once again highlights that RC is ated with a decreased OS, CSS, and RFS.
effective, provided it is well done and includes a real lym- An earlier retrospective study in 58 patients who had un-
phadenectomy [40]. dergone partial cystectomy with LND reported an overall 5-
In the MRC/EORTC trial that presented the long-term re- year survival of 69% with a mean follow-up of 33 months. Of
sults of CMV chemotherapy in 976 MIBC patients treated by these patients, 74% were alive with an intact bladder, and
55% had been continuously disease-free with an intact
‘Unfit’ for surgery, gross haematuria from advanced

bladder. On multivariate analysis, concomitant carcinoma in
Elderly, poor PS or unfit for surgery, symptomatic

situ (odds ratio [OR] 7.05, p ¼ 0.004) and lymph node involve-
ment (OR 4.38, p ¼ 0.031) were predictors of advanced recur-
Patient characteristics rence [44]. However, unlike reports by Dandekar et al. and
Elderly (>75 years), PS <70%, cT1e2N0

Malkowicz et al., this study did not comment on lesion local-
isation [45,46].
(daily pain on urination), T2eT3

Elderly (>70 years), T2eT3N0M0
Recent population-based series and single institution co-

horts have found that partial cystectomy did not compromise
survival when compared to RC in very selected patients with
organ-confined disease, a single limited lesion without carci-
bladder cancer (G3)
noma in situ, N0, and mainly located at the bladder dome.

Additional research is needed to clarify patient selection and
outcomes [47].
3.8. Palliative radiotherapy: hypofractionation
Reasons for being unfit and for qualifying to receive palliative

treatment alone include age, comorbidity, palliation of
Safety, symptom palliation
Palliative-care, haematuria
related to bladder cancer
symptoms, and short life expectancy. In these situations,

palliation is the priority. Hypofractionation might represent
Symptom palliation
Approach
an attractive modality, avoiding too many journeys to the

radiotherapy department and the associated fatigue (Table 2).
Curative, QoL
3.9. Conclusions
The standard treatment approach in MIBC is neoadjuvant

chemotherapy followed by RC and PLND. Age is not a limita-
tion for optimal treatment, whereas comorbidity and indi-
Hypofractionated intensity modulated RT (50 Gy in 20 fractions)
vidual life expectancy are. There are effective alternative

2) hypofractionated regimen: 20 Gy in 5 fractions over 1 week
1) 30 Gy in 10 fractions over 2 weeks (13 patients with PS < 2)
Weekly hypofractionated RT (total dose: 36 Gy in 6 fractions)

Weekly hypofractionated 3DCRT 36 Gy in 6 weekly fractions
treatments in the form of bladder-sparing strategies, of partial

with concomitant weekly radiosensitising chemotherapy
surgery (super selection) and combined CRT (with or without

cisplatin). Finally, palliative RT is proposed to very unfit
patients.
Haemostatic radiation therapy: 2 schedules:
4. Challenging patient profiles and ‘unfit’

Treatment
patients in advanced UC
Maria De Santis, United Kingdom
Table 2 e Hypofractionation palliative radiotherapy studies.
(19 patients with PS > 2)
4.1. Standard chemotherapy

PS, performance status; QoL, quality of life; RT, radiotherapy.
The standard of care for advanced and metastatic UC is

cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy. Long-term OS
and progression-free survival (PFS) after treatment with
gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GC) or methotrexate/vinblastine/
doxorubicin/cisplatin (MVAC) have been shown to be similar,
as were response rates. Only toxicity was in favour of GC
[52,53] (Table 3).
Cisplatin has also been compared with carboplatin in
24
32
58
43
cisplatin-eligible UC patients (Table 4). The carboplatin com-

N
binations of all trials resulted in lower complete response (CR)

rates and shorter OS. A comparative effectiveness study of 286
(retrospective) [48]
(retrospective) [49]
patients from four randomised trials confirmed that cisplatin-

(prospective) [50]
(prospective) [51]
Zygogianni, 2013
based chemotherapy was associated with a significantly

Kouloulias, 2013
Lacarriere, 2013
Turgeon, 2014
higher likelihood of achieving a CR (risk ratio [RR] ¼ 3.54; 95%

Reference
confidence interval [CI] 1.48e8.49, p ¼ 0.005) and overall

response rate (ORR) (RR ¼ 1.34; 95% CI 1.04e1.71, p ¼ 0.02) [55].
Thus, the standard first-line chemotherapy for UC should be
cisplatin-based, which provides 13e15 months of OS.
Table 3 e Long-term follow-up data of cisplatin Table 5 e First-line chemotherapy in advanced/

combination chemotherapy. metastatic UC in routine practice.
Author N (ITT) Median Median 5-year Community RISC group
Treatment follow-up survival (%) database [59] [60] N ¼ 1077
arm (years) (months) N ¼ 298
Sternberg, 263 7.3 14.9 No chemotherapy 24% 30%
2006 [54] Cisplatin-based 36% 36%
MVAC 129 15.1 13.5 Carboplatin-based 27% 20%
HD-MVAC 134 21.8 Non-platinum regimen 8% 14% (1 agent: 11%)
von der Maase, 405 >5 Data non-available 5% e
2005 [53]
RISC, Retrospective International Study of Invasive/Advanced
MVAC 203 14.0 15.3
Cancer of the Urothelium; UC, urothelial carcinoma.
GC 202 15.2 13.0
Visceral 6.8
metastases unfit to receive cisplatin if their creatinine clearance (CrCl)
No visceral 21.9
was <60 ml/min and/or the ECOG PS was 2 [62,65,66]. In 2011, a
metastases
consensus conference provided a more uniform description of
GC, gemcitabine plus cisplatin; HD, high dose intensity; ITT, patients unfit for cisplatin for inclusion in clinical trials [65]
intention to treat; MVAC, methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin,
(Table 6).
and cisplatin.
Performance status in patients unfit to receive cisplatin
must be taken into account with functional status, or with
other assessment tools (e.g. CGA). Since no standard chemo-
The use of cisplatin is limited in daily practice. Only 35.9%
therapy has been established for this patient group, the
of 298 patients presenting with advanced UC to 42 community
development of well tolerated single-agent therapy or
cancer centres were treated with cisplatin [59]. This percent-
cisplatin-free combination regimens is a priority in view of the
age was similar for 1077 ‘real world’ patients treated in 23
substantial number of patients who are not eligible for
centres of excellence [60] (Table 5). A more recent published
cisplatin.
study on patterns of practice in 327 advanced UC patients in
Greece reported that 55% did not receive cisplatin-based
4.3. Treatment of bladder cancer in the elderly
therapy [61]. Given that the majority of patients may not be
eligible to receive cisplatin-based chemotherapy, this popu-
The main challenge when treating bladder cancer in the
lation has a significant unmet need.
elderly is the use of cisplatin, whose pharmacokinetic prop-
erties principally rely on renal elimination [67]. With
4.2. ‘Unfit’ for cisplatin
increasing age, comorbidities increase and renal function
decreases [68]. Therefore, serum creatinine will be cleared
There is so far no established standard chemotherapy in pa-
more slowly in older patients, and will not provide an accurate
tients who are ‘unfit’ to receive cisplatin, even though more
reflection of renal function. Renal dysfunction is common in
than 50% of UC patients are not eligible for standard cisplatin-
oncology patients and many chemotherapy agents, including
based chemotherapy [20,62e64]. As discussed, comorbidities
cisplatin, are nephrotoxic. Renal function should be evaluated
and age mean that elderly patients are often excluded or
before every treatment course in all cancer patients, using
under-represented in clinical trials. It is, therefore, not clear
either the Cockcroft-Gault or the Modification of the Diet in
whether dosages investigated in clinical trials are realistic or
Renal Disease (MDRD) formulae, including in patients with
safe in the elderly and comorbid population.
normal serum creatinine. The use of additional nephrotoxic
In the first randomised phase III trial for cisplatin-ineligible
agents should be avoided whenever possible. Reduced or split-
patients conducted by the EORTC, patients were defined as
Table 6 e Eligibility criteria for enrolling metastatic UC

Table 4 e Randomised phase II studies of cisplatin versus patients ‘unfit’ for cisplatin-based chemotherapy in
carboplatin in cisplatin-eligible UC patients. clinical trials [65].
Regimens CR (%) OS (months) Reference Eligibility criteria (at least one of the following)
MVAC versus MVECa 25 13 Petrioli, 1. WHO or ECOG PS 2 or Karnofsky PS of 6070%
11 9.5 1996 [56] 2. CrCl (calculated or measured) <60 ml/min
MVAC versus Carbo/MV 13 16 Bellmunt, 3. CTCAE v4 grade II audiometric hearing loss
0 9 1997 [57] 4. CTCAE v4 grade II peripheral neuropathy
GC versus Carbo/gem 14.5 12.8 Dogliotti, 5. NYHA class III heart failure
1.8 9.8 2007 [58]
CrCl, creatinine clearance; CTCAE, Common Terminology Criteria
Carbo/gem, carboplatin, gemcitabine; Carbo/MV, carboplatin, for Adverse Events; ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group;
methotrexate, vinblastine; CR, complete response; GC, gemcitabine NYHA, New York Heart Association; PS, performance status; WHO,
plus cisplatin; MVAC, methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and World Health Organization; UC, urothelial carcinoma.
cisplatin; MVECa, methotrexate, vinblastine, epirubicin and car- Reproduced with permission. © 2011 American Society of Clinical
boplatin; OS, overall survival; UC, urothelial carcinoma. Oncology. All rights reserved.
Table 7 e Outcomes of patients who refused cystectomy Table 9 e EORTC 30986 study: first-line therapy in bladder
after receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for MIBC. cancer patients unfit for cisplatin-based chemotherapy
Herr, 2008 Sternberg, Meyer, [78].
[71] 2003 [72] 2014 [73] Regimen ORR (%) OS Severe acute Toxic
confirmed (months) toxicity (%) death (%)
CR after neoadjuvant N ¼ 63 N ¼ 37 N ¼ 25
(%)
MVAC (cT0)
5-year survival DSS 64% 68% 88% GCa 41.2 9.3 9.3 1.7
Intact bladder 54% 51% 72% 36.1
Relapse in bladder 64% 35% 52% M-CAVI 30.3 8.1 21.2 3.4
Muscle invasive 28% 21.0
Non-muscle invasive 24%
GCa, gemcitabine/carboplatin; M-CAVI, methotrexate, carboplatin,
Relapse metastatic NR 24% e
and vinblastine; ORR, overall response rate; OS, overall survival.
Additional mortality 30% 32% e
Alive with bladder NR 38% e
intact 4.5. First-line treatments in unfit patients
CR, complete response; DSS, disease-specific survival; MVAC,
methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin; NR, not re- Various combination regimens in patients unfit for cisplatin-
ported; MIBC, muscle-invasive bladder cancer. based chemotherapy show an ORR of at best 30e40% and a
median OS of 8e10 months [74e82]. Single arm studies with
more positively selected patients, in particular those having a
dose cisplatin, or reduced infusion rates, should be adminis- solitary kidney as single inclusion criterion for cisplatin inel-
tered to avoid excessive toxicity in elderly patients. It is also igibility, reported longer OS with up to 15 months (Table 8)
important to monitor hydration. Moreover, patients above 70 [82e85].
years of age are frequently diagnosed with CKD and have The EORTC 30986 study is the only available phase III trial
more prevalent comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes, stroke that compared two carboplatin-containing first-line chemo-
and ischaemic heart disease) than patients without CKD [69]. therapy regimens (methotrexate, carboplatin, and vinblastine
In addition, the occurrence of neuropathy is associated [M-CAVI] versus gemcitabine/carboplatin [GCa]) in clearly
with cumulative doses of cisplatin and taxanes. Age is also a defined cisplatin-ineligible patients with advanced UC [78]
risk factor for developing peripheral neuropathies induced by (Table 9).
chemotherapy [70]. No significant differences in OS and PFS were observed, but
a significant difference for confirmed RR was noted in favour
of GCa (36.1% versus 21%, p ¼ 0.01) (Table 9). Fewer adverse
4.4. Bladder preservation after chemotherapy
events (AEs) were reported with GCa, but there were still grade
III/IV AEs (neutropenia 52.5%; thrombocytopenia 48.3%; febrile
According to the European Association of Urology guidelines,
neutropenia [FN] 4.2%). In patients with both PS 2 and
chemotherapy alone is not recommended for the treatment of
impaired renal function, increased severe acute toxicities
the primary tumour [21]. The main reason is the high inci-
(SAT, defined as death, grade IV thrombocytopenia with
dence of relapse in the bladder, with added mortality. The
bleeding, grade III/IV renal toxicity, FN or mucositis), low
outcomes of patients who did not undergo cystectomy after
response rate and a shorter OS were reported. This led to the
having received neoadjuvant chemotherapy for MIBC are
recommendation against combination chemotherapy in such
summarised in Table 7. Clinically complete responders
patients and in favour of single-agent therapy or best sup-
after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for MIBC may have the op-
portive care (BSC). The EORTC 30986 study also reported low
tion to retain the bladder with durable survival, but the added
efficacy and elevated SAT in patients negatively selected ac-
risks and deviation from the guidelines must be openly
cording to known prognostic factors [78,86].
discussed.
Table 8 e Selected first-line treatment studies in unfit patients.

Author, year Phase, N Patient profile ORR (%) Median PFS Median OS
(months) (months)
Doxorubicinegemcitabine / paclitaxelecarboplatin
Galsky, 2007 [83] II; 25 CrCl <60 ml/min and/or prior nephrectomy 56 NR 15
Bevacizumab þ gemcitabineecarboplatin / bevacizumab
Balar, 2013 [84] II; 51 CrCl <60 ml/min and/or solitary 43 6.5 13.9
kidney and/or KPS 60e70%
Gemcitabine
Culine, 2011 [82] R II; 21 CrCl 30e60 ml/min and/or PS 2 43 3.8 5.4
Sunitinib
Bellmunt, 2011 [85] II; 38 CrCl 30e60 ml/min (PS 0e1) 8 4.8 8.1
KPS, Karnofsky performance status; PFS, progression-free survival; ORR, overall response rate; CrCl, creatinine clearance; OS, overall survival;
NR, not reported; UC, urothelial carcinoma.
Two additional phase II randomised trials evaluating after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy [98]. The study
vinflunine first-line treatment in cisplatin-unfit patients are showed a >2 month survival difference in favour of the vin-
ongoing. Vinflunine is a novel anti-cancer agent approved for flunine arm, which was maintained after >3.5 years' follow-
advanced or metastatic UC previously treated with a up. With vinflunine, the risk of death was reduced by 22%.
platinum-based regimen. The Northern Urology Cooperative There were also some long-term survivors in the vinflunine
Oncology Group 1 trial is comparing vinflunine plus gemci- arm (at 40 months follow-up cut off) [98]. For second-line
tabine versus GCa. The JASINT open-label, multicentre, in- treatment of advanced or metastatic UC, this trial reached
ternational randomised phase II study is assessing the the highest level of evidence ever reported. Currently, vin-
combination of gemcitabine or carboplatin with vinflunine flunine is the only approved second-line treatment [21].
[87]. Preliminary safety results showed more haematological Adverse prognostic factors validated in vinflunine studies
grade III/IV AEs in the carboplatin arm [87]. Clinical out- for pretreated patients include liver metastases, Hb <10 g/dl,
comes, response rates and survival are expected to be pub- and ECOG PS 1 [99,100]. Available prospective and retro-
lished soon. spective data on vinflunine use in routine practice for
unselected populations include 422 patients from 87 centres
4.6. Second-line treatment options (Table 10).
These recent data from European phase IV studies per-
Choice of second-line therapy depends on time to progres- formed in real life confirm the efficacy of vinflunine, even in
sion after first-line treatment, renal function, and PS [21]. patients with adverse prognostic factors [101]. Each of these
Several traditional cytotoxic agents as well as novel targeted studies report a median OS that exceeds the 6.9 months re-
agents have been tested in the second-line setting. Response ported in the phase III trial [98]. In real life, vinflunine was safe
rates of taxanes (weekly paclitaxel, docetaxel, nab- with manageable toxicity (Table 11). Myelosuppression is
paclitaxel), oxaliplatin, ifosfamide, topotecan, pemetrexed, usually managed with granulocyte colony-stimulating
lapatinib, gefitinib and bortezomib have been modest (up to factor in these patients, particularly if dose modifications
28%) in small phase II trials [88,89]. Gemcitabine has shown are insufficient [105].
very good response rates, but most patients already receive Vinflunine is especially interesting in the context of special
this drug during first-line treatment [90]. Paclitaxel/gemci- patient populations, including those with renal or hepatic
tabine studies have shown response rates of up to 60%, but impairment, and elderly patients. Vinflunine has been shown
randomised phase III trials evaluating this combination in to be safe in patients with a CrCl as low as 20 ml/min [106].
the second-line setting have not included an adequate These conditions are not contraindications to vinflunine use,
comparator arm [91e93]. but require dose adjustments. In the case of renal impairment,
Several single-agent phase II studies have tested targeted the dose needs adjusting according to CrCl values. In patients
therapies in the second-line setting, but none have shown whose CrCl is 60 ml/min, standard vinflunine dosing of
substantial activity. Trials are also testing targeted agents 320 mg/m2 every 3 weeks (q3w) is recommended, or 280 mg/
combined with a cytotoxic drug (paclitaxel þ cetuximab or m2 q3w in patients who are PS 1 or who have received prior
docetaxel þ vandetanib), but the combinations exacerbated radiotherapy. The same lower dose of 280 mg/m2 q3w is rec-
toxicity, and no synergistic or additive effects were reported ommended in patients whose CrCl is 40e60 ml/min, and a
[94,95]. More recent attempts at combining targeted agents further reduced dose of 250 mg/m2 q3w in patients whose CrCl
with cytotoxic drugs have been more encouraging is 20e40 ml/min. The large experience in the post-platinum
(docetaxel þ ramucirumab versus docetaxel), based on the setting, phase II and III study data, and real world experi-
results of a phase II trial, although toxicity was increased in ence all demonstrate that vinflunine is safe in patients with
the combination arm [96]. Another single-arm phase II study CrCl <60 ml/min. Indeed, the ‘tolerance profile of vinflunine in
which combined pazopanib with paclitaxel reported good ORR patients with renal dysfunction was similar to that observed
values but significant myelosuppression [97]. in patients with CrCl >60 ml/min’ [106]. Vinflunine can be
A phase III trial compared long-term OS of patients with used in patients with hepatic impairment, provided it is not
advanced UC treated with vinflunine plus BSC or BSC alone, severe. Doses of 250 mg/m2 or 200 mg/m2 q3w are
Table 10 e Vinflunine efficacy in routine practice.

Germany [101] France [101] UK [102] Spain [103] Greece [104]
Patients 77 134 38 102 71
1st-line therapy Platinum-based chemotherapy
ECOG PS/Karnofsky Median Karnofsky: 80 PS 0: 25% PS 0e1: 92% PS 0: 31% PS 0: 24%
PS 1: 46% PS 2: 8% PS 1: 61% PS 1: 53%
PS 2: 23% PS 2: 8% PS 2: 20%
PS 3: 3%
Visceral involvement 60% (visceral) 57% (lung þ liver) 39% (lung) 29% (liver) 29% (lung) 17% (liver) 42% (lung) 30% (liver)
Number of cycles Average: 5 Median: 5 (1e23) Median: 3 (1e16) Median: 4 (1e18) Median: 4 (1e16)
ORR (%) 23 22 32 25 16.3
DCR (%) 53 51 53 66 e
DCR, disease control rate; ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; ORR, overall response rate; PS, performance status.
Table 11 e Vinflunine safety in routine practice.

Grade III/IV adverse events Germany France UK Spain Greece
(n ¼ 77) [101] (n ¼ 134) [101] (n ¼ 38) [102] (n ¼ 102) [103] (n ¼ 71) [104]
Haematological adverse events (% patients)
Neutropenic infection or febrile neutropenia (%) 1 3 5 NR NR
Neutropenia (%) NR 17 3 13 16.3
Anaemia (%) 6 8 5 NR 4.1
Non-haematological adverse events (% patients)
Constipation (%) 5 8 11 6 12.2
Abdominal pain (%) NR 3 0 5 NR
Asthenia/fatigue (%) 1 21 8 NR 16.3
Vomiting (%) 3 NR 0 2 NR
NR, not reported.
recommended in patients with mild Child-Pugh Grade A and evaluated traditional cytotoxic agents and combinations with
moderate (Grade B) impairment, respectively. targeted agents.
In addition, vinflunine is safe in elderly patients; most
common AEs do not differ from those seen in younger pa-
tients. Similarly to patients with renal impairment, based on 5. Management of upper tract UC: surgical
pharmacokinetic and safety data, vinflunine should be aspects
started at 280 mg/m2 q3w in patients who are aged 75e79 Nicolas Mottet, France
years, and the dose should be lowered to 250 mg/m2 q3w in
patients aged 80 years who are in good shape [107]. The 5.1. Surgery
decision on which dose to administer depends on biological
parameters. Upper age thresholds are currently not outlined The standard surgical modality in UC of the upper urinary
in clinical trials. tract (UTUC) is a radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) plus
LND followed by single immediate postoperative intravesical
4.7. Conclusions instillation (usually with mitomycin C). New data suggest that
a systematic conservative approach is standard of care in
Urothelial cancer patients are of higher median age and often selected patients (Fig. 3) [108].
present with organ impairment and comorbidities. Cisplatin- Low-risk UTUC is defined by the presence of all the
based chemotherapy is the standard first-line treatment in following factors: unifocal disease, tumour size <1 cm, low-
advanced UC. However, more than 50% of patients are not grade cytology, low-grade ureteroscopic (URS) biopsy, and no
eligible for cisplatin due to age and/or renal comorbidities, invasive aspect on multidetector computed tomography-
meaning that alternative treatment options are needed for urography. On the other hand, high-risk UTUC is defined by
these patients. Medical management should consider neph- the presence of either of these factors: hydronephrosis,
rotoxicity of drugs and patients' performance status and organ tumour size >1 cm, high-grade cytology, high-grade URS bi-
function. opsy, multifocal disease, and previous RC for bladder cancer
The first randomised phase II/III trial in ‘unfit’ patients [108].
showed that M-CAVI and GCa are active, with a toxicity profile In case of lesion suspicion upon imaging and negative or
in favour of GCa. Thus, in patients ineligible for cisplatin due low-grade cytology, it is recommended to perform an ure-
to a single risk factor (e.g. renal function), the standard teroscopy and biopsy, whereas ureteroscopy is optional in the
regimen is GCa. There may be a role for splitting cisplatin case of positive cytology.
doses in the case of renal function impairment. Patients
ineligible for cisplatin are not a uniform group, and successful 5.1.1. Conservative treatment (low-risk UTUC)
outcomes of combination therapy depend on renal function, Techniques used in the conservative management of low-risk
PS and the presence/absence of prognostic factors. In frail UTUC are as follows [108]:
patients, recommended treatment options include carbopla-
tin or gemcitabine monotherapy, or GCa if possible. This Laser should be used for endoscopic treatment
population is challenging because these patients are difficult Flexible ureteroscopy is preferable to rigid ureteroscopy:
to include and accrue in clinical trials. especially for renal pelvis, distal, and mid-ureter
Novel treatments and combinations with vinflunine are A percutaneous approach remains an option in low-grade
promising in an area of unmet need in the first-line setting in tumours unsuitable for URS treatment
patients who are elderly or unfit to receive cisplatin. Vin-
flunine has a favourable toxicity profile, including in elderly Conservative treatment may also be extended to (low-
patients or in patients with impaired renal function, provided grade only) multifocal lesions (pelvis only) without ureteral
that the dose is adjusted. For second-line treatment of locations or tumours <3 cm, provided they are in the pelvis
advanced or metastatic UC, vinflunine is currently the only and non-flat. In the future, biological markers associated with
approved treatment option, although many trials have low-grade lesions may play a role in patient selection. One
unsolved issue is the role of adjuvant (mainly percutaneous) [110]. Unfortunately, in real practice the standard principle of
instillations in low-risk UTUC patients. RNU with systematic bladder cuff removal is not followed in
about 50% of patients despite clear guidelines [109].
5.1.2. Lower ureter management Intravesical recurrence after RNU is a frequent event
Conservative treatment is performed most of the time in the requiring intense bladder surveillance with endoscopy. A
distal ureter, provided the approach is feasible. Endoscopic retrospective analysis in 2681 patients treated with RNU for
removal is recommended in low-grade, small, non-circular UTUC at 24 international institutions compared outcomes
tumours. Complete distal ureterectomy and neocystostomy following RNU using three different methods of bladder
are indicated for non-invasive, low-grade tumours in the cuff management (transvesical, extravesical, and endo-
distal ureter that cannot be removed completely endoscopi- scopic) [111]. Of the 2681 patients, 67.5% underwent the
cally, and for high-grade, locally-invasive (i.e. T2) tumours. Of transvesical approach; 29.3%, the extravesical approach;
note, the upper ureter must be normal, and kidneys must be and 3.2%, the endoscopic approach. There was no difference
functional [108]. in terms of RFS, CSS, and OS among the three distal ureteral
management approaches. Patients who underwent the
5.1.3. Radical surgery (high-risk UTUC) endoscopic approach were at significantly higher risk of
RNU plus LND is recommended in high-risk UTUC patients. intravesical recurrence compared with those who under-
The procedure involves removal of perinephretic fat. No dif- went the transvesical (p ¼ 0.02) or extravesical approaches
ference in recurrence or cancer-specific mortality has been (p ¼ 0.02); the latter two groups did not differ from each
reported when comparing open versus laparoscopic RNU in other [111].
1249 patients from 13 international centres [109], provided
that surgical principles are respected and that the urinary 5.1.4. Nodal dissection
tract is closed. Nodal dissection is not necessary if pTa/1: max 2% pNþ, but it
It is essential to remove the bladder cuff in RNU. The is mandatory in the following instances: pT2 (16% pNþ); pT2
prognostic impact of bladder cuff excision at nephroureter- (8% pNþ); pT3 (17% pNþ), or pT4 (46% pNþ). RNU provides
ectomy on cancer-specific mortality was quantified in a local control and CSS in patients with localised UTUC. Path-
population-based cohort of 4210 UTUC patients. In univariable ologic tumour grade, T stage, LN status, tumour architecture,
and multivariable analyses, omission of bladder cuff excision and LVI are important prognostic variables associated with
increased cancer-specific mortality rates in patients with oncologic outcomes, which could potentially be used to select
pT3N0/x, pT4N0/x, and pT(any)N1e3 UC of the renal pelvis patients for adjuvant systemic therapy [112].
Fig. 3 e Proposed flowchart for the management of UTUC [108].*In patients with solitary kidney, consider a more
conservative approach. CT, computed tomography; RNU, radical nephroureterectomy; UTUC, upper urinary tract urothelial
cell carcinoma.
Having addressed when to perform nodal dissection, clear application and personalised therapy. The sections below
templates remain to be established to perform the procedure. present an overview of the latest cancer genomics data in UC,
This depends on lesion location and requires formal clinical and the potential use of tumour genetics in bladder cancer.
validation [108] (Table 12). In the future, precision medicine and the analysis of large-
scale somatic and germline genomics may impact individual
5.1.5. Postoperative instillation patient treatment in bladder cancer and individualise patient
Guidelines for RNU in UTUC recommend postoperative care.
instillation following surgery to avoid bladder recurrence
[108]. Two studies have demonstrated that a single immediate 6.2. Recurrence and progression in high-grade
postoperative bladder instillation dose reduces the risk of ‘superficial’ bladder cancer
bladder tumour recurrence [113,114].
Approximately 21% of superficial bladder cancers progress to
5.2. Conclusions muscle-invasive or more advanced disease stages, and 50% of
localised muscle-invasive disease progresses to metastatic
The main take home message in terms of UTUC surgical disease. Although risk tables provide a prognostic tool, no
management is that a conservative procedure should be molecular biomarkers accurately predict disease recurrence,
applied when feasible. Patients are required to have a closed progression or cancer-specific mortality [115].
urinary tract. If RNU is performed, it must include bladder cuff A recent meta-analysis in high-grade T1 non-muscle-
removal and early postoperative instillation at urethral cath- invasive bladder cancer assessed selection criteria for early
eter removal; nodal dissection must also be carried out in cystectomy in these patients. The highest impact risk factor
muscle-invasive lesions. was depth of invasion (T1b/c) into lamina propria (progres-
sion: HR ¼ 3.34, p < 0001; CSS: HR ¼ 2.02, p ¼ 0.001). Several
other factors also predicted progression and CSS (LVI, asso-
6. Molecular specificities in UC ciated clinically-isolated syndrome, non-use of BCG, tumour
Joaquim Bellmunt, Spain size >3 cm, and older age) [116].
6.1. Introduction 6.3. Chemotherapy in muscle-invasive disease
New options are needed for treating metastatic bladder can- As discussed, the timing of perioperative chemotherapy in
cer, since median survival and response rates with standard MIBC patients is a subject of debate. Benefit of neoadjuvant
therapy (MVAC) have evolved little over the last 30 years. As chemotherapy is now well established, but survival benefit
discussed, superficial disease is treated with TURB plus from adjuvant chemotherapy seems less evidence-based. An
intravesicular therapy, which includes Bacillus Calm- updated meta-analysis on the benefit of postoperative adju-
etteeGue rin (BCG), mitomycin C, or other investigational vant cisplatin-based chemotherapy versus surgery alone in
agents such as gemcitabine. Localised muscle-invasive dis- 945 patients from nine RCTs reported the following efficacy
ease is managed with cystectomy and neoadjuvant (the outcomes, providing evidence of a survival benefit in MIBC
standard) or adjuvant chemotherapy; chemoradiation is used patients receiving adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy
if a bladder-sparing approach is opted for. Metastatic disease after RC [31] (Table 13).
is treated mainly with chemotherapy, and there are a wide Larger studies of adjuvant chemotherapy from meta-
variety of available agents whose role is well established, analyses and retrospective cohorts show some OS benefit,
including cisplatin, carboplatin, or gemcitabine. Immuno- but not with a high level of evidence (Table 14).
therapy and targeted therapies are emerging and highly
promising strategies that are awaiting confirmation for being 6.4. Molecular determinants of response
established in this setting.
An improved understanding of molecular specificities of Several genetic UC molecular markers that predict response to
bladder cancer will provide new opportunities for prognostic chemotherapy are emerging. Whole exome sequencing on
Table 12 e Lesion location and nodal dissection.

Table 13 e Efficacy of postoperative adjuvant cisplatin-
Lesion location Location of nodal dissection based chemotherapy versus surgery alone in MIBC
patients receiving adjuvant cisplatin-based
Right pyelic lesion Renal hilum, para, retro cave
chemotherapy after RC [31].
Left pyelic lesion Renal hilum, para-aortic
Right lumbar ureter Renal hilum, para, End-point HR 95% CI p Value
(down to iliac vessels) retro cave, inter-aorticocave
OS 0.77 0.59e0.99 0.049
Left lumbar ureter Renal hilum, para-aortic
OS in LN (þ) 0.66 0.45e0.91 0.014
(down to iliac vessels)
DFS 0.66 0.48e0.92 0.014
Right ureter (below Primitive external, internal
iliac vessels) obturator CI, confidence interval; DFS, disease-free survival; HR, hazard ratio;
Left ureter (below Primitive external, internal LN, lymph node; MIBC, muscle-invasive bladder cancer; OS, overall
iliac vessels) obturator survival; RC, radical cystectomy.
Table 14 e Efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy from meta-analyses and retrospective cohorts.

Reference Design Total N (adjuvant Level of OS HR (95% CI)
chemo. n) evidence
ABC, 2005 [117] Individual patient data meta-analysis from 6 RCTs 491 (246) 2a 0.75 (0.60e0.96)
Leow, 2014 [31] Literature-based meta-analysis from 9 RCTs 945 (475) 2a 0.77 (0.59e0.99)
Svatek, 2010 [118] Retrospective cohort study from 11 high 3947 (932) 2c 0.85 (0.72e0.97)*
volume centres
Booth, 2014 Population-based retrospective cohort 2809 (541) 2c 0.71 (0.62e0.81)
Galsky, 2015 Population-based retrospective cohort 5653 (1293) 2c 0.72 (0.65e0.80)
Cancer-specific survival. CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; OS, overall survival; RCT, randomised controlled trial.
pretreatment tumour and germline DNA from 50 patients molecular profiling has identified single drug targets such as
with MIBC who received neoadjuvant cisplatin-based BCR-ABL in chronic myeloid leukaemia, KRAS in colorectal
chemotherapy followed by cystectomy identified ERCC2, a cancer, or BRAF in melanoma.
nucleotide excision repair gene, as being mutated in cisplatin So far, no molecularly targeted agents have been approved
responders compared with non-responders [119]. for bladder cancer treatment. Genomic alterations of
Similarly, a pathologic CR to neoadjuvant chemotherapy anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) have been reported in UC
containing platinum is a strong prognostic determinant for patients, but no association between ALK copy number alter-
MIBC patients. Erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2) mu- ation and OS, ECOG PS, or development of visceral disease was
tations characterise a subgroup of MIBC with excellent observed [124].
response to neoadjuvant therapy [120]. Bladder cancer is a molecularly heterogeneous disease.
A neoadjuvant clinical trial is underway to compare the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project reported molecular
clinical efficacy of GC versus MVAC and the ability of a gene alterations in several genes involved in cell cycle regulation,
expression profiling-based algorithm (CoXEN) to predict chromatin regulation, and kinase signalling pathways, iden-
complete pathological response [121]. tifying potential therapeutic targets [125]. The TCGA findings
have prompted the design of several genomic target driven
6.5. Bladder-preservation as a CMT trials.
Long-term outcomes in MIBC patients after bladder- 6.6.1. Cell cycle regulatory genes, signalling pathways and
preserving CMT were assessed in a pooled analysis of five immunotherapy
phase II studies and one phase III study that included a total of An ongoing phase II trial is testing palbociclib (PD-0332991) in
468 patients. With a median follow-up of 7.8 years among patients with metastatic UC with mutated RB and inactivated
survivors (n ¼ 205), the 5- and 10-year OS rates were 57% and p16 or overexpressed CCND1 after failure of first-line
36%, respectively, and the 5- and 10-year DSS rates were 71% chemotherapy. The trial will explore the association of mo-
and 65%, respectively. The study demonstrated long-term lecular markers with outcomes of palbociclib response and
outcomes comparable to modern immediate cystectomy the association between UC molecular subtypes (basal-like or
studies. Given these long-term outcomes, bladder-preserving luminal) with outcomes of response or resistance to palboci-
CMT can be considered as an alternative to RC, especially in clib (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02334527).
elderly patients not well suited for surgery [37]. Whole-genome sequencing was used to investigate the
Protein expression of DNA damage signalling proteins in genetic basis of a durable remission of metastatic bladder
tumour samples was measured prior to radical radiotherapy
or cystectomy in MIBC patients. In the RT cohort, low tumour
MRE11 expression was associated with worse 3-year CSS Table 15 e Planned interim analysis grade ≥III AEs safety
results [96].
compared with high expression, highlighting this protein as a
predictive factor associated with survival following RT [122]. Docetaxel Docetaxel þ
A report in patients with clinical stage T2e4a MIBC treated (N ¼ 44) ramucirumab
(N ¼ 46)
with TURB plus cisplatin-based induction and consolidation
chemoradiation regimens (and RC for invasive tumour Haematological toxicities
Neutropenia 36 28
recurrence) showed variations in 3-year OS estimates
Febrile neutropenia 11 20
depending on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
Anaemia 5 9
expression patterns [123]. Thrombocytopenia 0 7
Non-haematological toxicities
6.6. Precision oncology Fatigue 11 33
Pneumonia 9 13
Sepsis 7 9
The progression towards targeted therapy in UC is underway.
Stomatitis 0 7
Some cancers are still treated with non-specific or non- Diarrhoea 2 7
targeted chemotherapy. ‘Druggable’ tumour-specific genetic
AEs, adverse events.
targets are increasingly the focus of research. In other cancers,
cancer in a patient treated with everolimus, a drug that in- chemotherapy. Therapies include GC/dose-dense MVAC
hibits the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling and possibly CTLA4/PD1/PDL-1, or VEGF inhibitors.
pathway. A loss-of-function mutation was identified in tu- Claudin-low/mesenchymal: clinical features are not well
berous sclerosis complex 1 (TSC1), a regulator of mTOR defined. Probably enriched with sarcomatoid features and
pathway activation. TSC1 mutation correlated with ever- associated with high metastatic potential.
olimus sensitivity [126]. As a result, several ongoing phase I/II
6.8. Conclusions
trials are investigating the impact of PI3K/mTOR pathway
genomic alterations in metastatic UC patients treated with
An increasing number of studies are bridging the gap between
various regimens, in order to help identify the best responding
translational science and novel biomarker-driven clinical tri-
patients. In addition, fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)
als, establishing molecular-based therapies for bladder can-
tyrosine kinase inhibitors are an emerging area of interest in
cer. For instance, expression analysis of DNA damage
cancer therapeutics. Proof-of-concept was recently estab-
signalling proteins in tumour samples taken before irradiation
lished by two trials targeting FGFR3 in previously-treated
could be used as a predictive marker of RT response and may
FGFR3-mutant or translocated metastatic UC [127,128].
ultimately allow patient selection for RT or cystectomy, thus
Studies are being designed in order to accelerate clinical
improving overall cure rates.
drug development in UC. The Alliance MATCH-UP study aims
Studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using whole-
to apply molecular findings to clinical trials by allocating
genome sequencing in the clinical setting to identify bio-
drugs based on molecular screening in metastatic UC
markers of drug sensitivity that can aid in the identification of
following platinum-based chemotherapy.
patients most likely to respond to targeted anti-cancer
Finally, the programmed death-1 (PD-1) receptor/PD-1
therapies.
ligand (PD-L1) pathway negatively regulates T-cell-mediated
Bladder cancer can no longer be thought of as a single
responses. The prognostic impact of PD-L1 expression was
disease; subtyping should be considered, and may have im-
defined in UC. Results from 160 tumour samples showed that
plications on selecting therapy. Application of biomarkers is
PD-L1 is widely expressed in tumour cell membrane and
set to fundamentally change bladder cancer treatment.
tumour-infiltrating mononuclear cells (TIMCs). PD-L1
expression in TIMCs was significantly associated with longer
survival in patients who developed metastases [129] and 7. Perspectives for the future of UC
received subsequent chemotherapy. Using PD1 or PD-L1 as a Joaquim Bellmunt, Spain
target, several studies have shown encouraging results with
anti-PD-L1 antibodies (pembrolizumab and MPDL3280A) in UC 7.1. First-line therapies
patients with PD-L1-positive advanced tumours [130,131].
Promising long lasting responses have been seen in a selected As mentioned earlier, the advances achieved in the last 30
subgroup of patients. These drugs are now undergoing testing years of randomised trials evaluating systemic chemotherapy
in phase III trials versus chemotherapy, in the second-line in the treatment of advanced bladder cancer are limited.
setting. Advanced bladder cancer seems to have reached a plateau
with regard to median survival of patients, averaging
approximately 15 months.
6.7. Intrinsic subtypes in MIBC The standard chemotherapy regimens in 2015 for the first-
line treatment or ‘fit’ patients are GC or MVAC or a regimen
In other diseases such as breast cancer, intrinsic subtypes are combining paclitaxel and GC in selected patients. GC and
well characterised (e.g. luminal, HER2-positive, triple- MVAC have level 1 evidence and grade A recommendation
negative) [132], each of which are associated with distinct [21,135].
clinical management approaches. The objective in UC has In ‘unfit’ patients, the combination of carboplatin and
been to develop similar treatment algorithms. Based on cur- gemcitabine is now considered the best option based on a
rent research, the following intrinsic subtypes and clinical randomised phase II/III trial conducted in the EORTC (EORTC
features have been described in MIBC [133,134]: 30986) versus the previously used regimen M-CAVI [78].
Knowing that vinflunine is an effective drug with a safe
Luminal: enriched with papillary histology and activating profile in patients with impaired renal function, the open-
FGFR3 mutations and translocations. About half of the tu- label, multicentre, international JASINT-1 randomised phase
mours are sensitive to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Ther- II study assessed the combination of gemcitabine or carbo-
apies include GC/dose-dense MVAC, and possibly FGFR platin with vinflunine [87]. The initial promising data from
inhibitors. JASINT-1 is being further evaluated in the JASINT-2 rando-
p53-like: infiltrated with stromal fibroblasts, bone metas- mised phase III study comparing vinflunineegemcitabine
tases. Resistant to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Therapies versus gemcitabineecarboplatin doublet combinations in 162
may include Met-inhibitors or initial surgery. patients unfit for cisplatin with advanced or metastatic UC.
Basal: enriched with squamous features, immature signa-
ture, angiogenesis. More common in women. Associated 7.2. Second-line therapies
with advanced stage, metastatic disease at presentation,
shorter DSS and OS in the absence of chemotherapy. About The most promising single-agent second-line chemotherapy
half of the tumours are sensitive to neoadjuvant is vinflunine, a third-generation semi-synthetic vinca
alkaloid. In patients progressing after platinum-based com- Another recent single-arm phase II study combined an
bination chemotherapy for metastatic disease, vinflunine angiogenesis inhibitor (pazopanib) with weekly paclitaxel in
should be offered; alternatively, due to the limitations in this 32 pretreated patients with refractory urothelial cancer [97].
setting, treatment within a clinical trial may be offered (grade Objective responses were observed in 50% of patients,
A* recommendation) [21]. Currently, vinflunine is the only with PFS and OS values of 6 and 8 months, respectively.
approved second-line drug and the only drug that has proven Seventy-five percent of patients required dose reduction
beneficial both within a phase III study and in real world data and 44% of patients received growth factors. Despite the
[98,101e103]. A long list of single-agent second-line chemo- impressive ORR value, OS is similar to many other trials,
therapy trials is available for advanced bladder cancer and myelosuppression was significant. The initially
(reviewed in [89]). planned phase III study was cancelled based on a corporate
Vinflunine’s mechanism of action is threefold, in that it is a decision.
microtubule inhibitor with anti-angiogenic activity that re-
verses epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition [136,137]. More- 7.4. Maintenance therapy
over, it has anti-angiogenic activity at non-cytotoxic
concentrations and can inhibit metastasis and impact on Maintenance therapy has an established role in some diseases
epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition at low doses (in vitro such as advanced non-small cell lung cancer, in which pa-
studies) [138e140]. tients receive continuation maintenance therapy or switch to
another agent (e.g. pemetrexed or erlotinib) based on the
7.3. Second-line targeted therapies benefits observed in randomised trials [141e143]. The key
objectives of maintenance therapy are to delay progressive
Many single-agent phase II studies with targeted therapies disease and increase OS. Secondary objectives include the
have been tested in the second-line setting, but no substantial prevention of symptom deterioration and maintenance of PS
activity has been demonstrated as single agents. These to allow further therapy.
include gefitinib, bortezomib, lapatinib, sorafenib, sunitinib, Which role and which UC patients would best benefit
aflibercept, pazopanib, volasertib, everolimus, vandetanib, from such a treatment approach remains to be established.
temsirolimus, and dovitinib. Maintenance therapy in UC was investigated with the re-
Furthermore, targeted agents combined with a cytotoxic ceptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib versus placebo after
drug (paclitaxel þ cetuximab or docetaxel þ vandetanib) in first-line chemotherapy in a randomised phase II, double-
platinum-pretreated patients did not demonstrate additive blind study. From 54 randomised patients, the median PFS
activity and resulted in increased toxicities [94,95]. was 2.9 months with sunitinib versus 2.7 months with pla-
The VEGF pathway may play an important role in the cebo. Similarly, no difference in OS was reported (10.5
pathogenesis of bladder cancer. Previous phase II trials failed months with sunitinib versus 10.3 months with placebo). The
to demonstrate activity as single agents, but more recent study was limited by premature closure and a small sample
phase II combination studies have led to more promising re- size. Maintenance sunitinib was considered unlikely to
sults. Ramucirumab, a human VEGFR2-targeted monoclonal confer benefit in this setting [144]. A second biomarker-
antibody, has demonstrated clinical activity in several solid driven trial with maintenance lapatinib in bladder cancer
tumours with preclinical testing supporting a role for ramu- was presented at ASCO 2015. Despite selecting patients based
cirumab/taxane combinations in UC. In an ongoing phase II on her1 and her2 status, the trial was unable to demonstrate
study in the second-line setting of advanced or metastatic any benefit [145].
UC, patients were randomised equally to one of three open- Some additional ongoing trials are investigating the role of
label treatments: docetaxel (n ¼ 44); docetaxel and ramucir- maintenance therapy in advanced UC after first-line chemo-
umab (n ¼ 46); or docetaxel and icrucumab (n ¼ 49). Ran- therapy. Phase II data in fit patients are expected from two
domisation was stratified by the absence/presence of trials. The JASIMA single arm trial is investigating vinflunine
visceral metastases and receipt of prior anti-angiogenic ther- up to disease progression after first-line chemotherapy with
apies [96]. While docetaxel þ icrucumab led to minimal ac- up to four cycles of GC treatment. Responding patients with at
tivity (ORR 10%, disease control rate [DCR] 31%) and least stable disease were included in the trial. The Spanish
development of icrucumab was interrupted in bladder cancer, MAJA trial is a randomised multicentre study in which up to
the ORR for docetaxel þ ramucirumab was 19.6 versus 4.5% for six cycles of primary treatment with GC were allowed. Fit
docetaxel (p ¼ 0.0502) and the DCR was 67.4 versus 43.2% patients with advanced or metastatic UC not progressing on
(p ¼ 0.033). Median interim PFS data were also significantly in palliative first-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy were rand-
favour of docetaxel þ ramucirumab versus docetaxel: 22 omised to receive vinflunine maintenance þ BSC versus BSC
weeks versus 10.4 weeks (p < 0.001), providing a basis for alone. The first preliminary results from the MAJA study pre-
testing ramucirumab in a phase III study now enrolling 524 sented at ASCO 2015 (66 patients) indicated that maintenance
patients (docetaxel þ ramucirumab versus docetaxel þ vinflunine post-cisplatin has an acceptable tolerability profile
placebo). Nevertheless, toxicities were increased in the in advanced UC patients. With a median follow-up of 7.2
docetaxel þ ramucirumab arm with a high rate of FN (20% months, the median PFS was increased by as much as 6
versus 11% with docetaxel only) (Table 15). The most common months (10.4 months in the vinflunine arm and 4.6 months in
grade III AEs from the interim analysis are summarised the BSC arm [p ¼ 0.058]), suggesting that more mature data
(Table 15) [96]. may lead to significant PFS differences between arms [146].
7.5. Conclusions United States: results from the National Cancer Data Base.
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e j c s u p p l e m e n t s 1 4 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 1 e2 0

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

journal homepage: www.ejcancer.com

Urothelial carcinoma management in elderly or

Joaquim Bellmunt a,b,*, Nicolas Mottet c, Maria De Santis d

article info these patients. The delegates discussed potential therapies,

Table 1 e The G-8 questionnaire [19].

BMI, body mass index.

3.2. Cystectomy to reliably determine the effect of single-agent cisplatin on

3.2.2. Survival data The role of postoperative adjuvant cisplatin-based chemo-

55% had been continuously disease-free with an intact

‘Unfit’ for surgery, gross haematuria from advanced

Elderly, poor PS or unfit for surgery, symptomatic

Elderly (>75 years), PS <70%, cT1e2N0

(daily pain on urination), T2eT3

Recent population-based series and single institution co-

noma in situ, N0, and mainly located at the bladder dome.

3.8. Palliative radiotherapy: hypofractionation

Reasons for being unfit and for qualifying to receive palliative

symptoms, and short life expectancy. In these situations,

an attractive modality, avoiding too many journeys to the

The standard treatment approach in MIBC is neoadjuvant

vidual life expectancy are. There are effective alternative

Weekly hypofractionated RT (total dose: 36 Gy in 6 fractions)

treatments in the form of bladder-sparing strategies, of partial

surgery (super selection) and combined CRT (with or without

4. Challenging patient profiles and ‘unfit’

(19 patients with PS > 2)

4.1. Standard chemotherapy

The standard of care for advanced and metastatic UC is

cisplatin-eligible UC patients (Table 4). The carboplatin com-

binations of all trials resulted in lower complete response (CR)

patients from four randomised trials confirmed that cisplatin-

based chemotherapy was associated with a significantly

higher likelihood of achieving a CR (risk ratio [RR] ¼ 3.54; 95%

confidence interval [CI] 1.48e8.49, p ¼ 0.005) and overall

Table 3 e Long-term follow-up data of cisplatin Table 5 e First-line chemotherapy in advanced/

Table 6 e Eligibility criteria for enrolling metastatic UC

Table 8 e Selected first-line treatment studies in unfit patients.

Table 10 e Vinflunine efficacy in routine practice.

Table 11 e Vinflunine safety in routine practice.

NR, not reported.

6.1. Introduction 6.3. Chemotherapy in muscle-invasive disease

Table 12 e Lesion location and nodal dissection.

Table 14 e Efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy from meta-analyses and retrospective cohorts.

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