Perioperative Chemoradiotherapy May Improve Survival in Urethral Carcinoma

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

Patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for cT3 and/or cN+ primary urethral carcinoma (PUC) appeared to demonstrate improved survival compared with those who underwent upfront surgery with or without adjuvant chemotherapy, a recent study published online in the journal Annals of Oncology has shown.

For the study, researchers sought to assess the effect of perioperative chemo(radio)therapy) in patients with advanced PUC. Researchers identified 124 patients who were diagnosed and underwent surgery for PUC between 1993 and 2012.

Results showed that the objective response rate was 25% and 33% for neoadjuvant chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, respectively.

For patients who achieved an objective response to neoadjuvant treatment, the 3-year overall survival was 100% for those who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 58.3% for those who received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (P = 0.30).

In the locally advanced subset of patients, the 3-year overall survival was 100% for those who received neodjuvant chemotherapy, 100% for those who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 50% for those who underwent surgery alone, and 20% for those who underwent surgery plus adjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.016).

The study demonstrated a significant association between neoadjuvant treatment and improved 3-year relapse-free survival (P = 0.022) and overall survival (P = 0.022).