Patterns of local recurrence after radical cystectomy in a contemporary series of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Purpose To describe the epidemiology, clinical features, and prognostic factors of local recurrence (LR) in a large case series of patients treated by radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 903 patients treated in a single tertiary reference center. All cases of LR were identified. Descriptive analysis was performed on the clinical features, evolution, and overall mortality of these patients. Prognostic factors of LR were assessed using the Mann–Whitney test for continuous variables and the χ 2 test for categorical variables. Results Fifty-three patients were diagnosed with LR during follow-up (5.9 %). One patient had concomitant distant metastasis. Pain was the most frequent symptom leading to diagnosis. Mean time interval from RC to LR was 14.4 ± 13 months (1–64) with 50 % of cases diagnosed in the first postoperative year. Overall median survival of patients diagnosed with LR was 9 months [95 % confidence interval (6–11)]. Advanced pathological stage (T3 or T4) and lymph-node invasion were associated with increased LR rate in univariate and multivariate analysis. Presence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was associated with a poorer prognosis after LR compared to pure urothelial carcinoma ( p = 0.04). None of the parameters tested was associated with time interval between RC and LR diagnosis. Conclusions LR is not uncommon, favored by high pathological stage (T3/T4), and has a very bad prognosis, particularly when SCC is present. LR must be carefully tracked during follow-up after RC, and optimal management of these cases remains to be determined.