Which treatment is best for patients with AJCC stage IV bladder cancer?

Purpose We sought to identify the method that could obtain the best survival rate for AJCC stage IV bladder cancer (BCa) patients. Methods Patients with AJCC stage IV BCa diagnosed between 2004 and 2015 were identified using the Surveillance, epidemiology and end results (SEER) database. Kaplan–Meier curves and log-rank test were used for overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Multivariable Cox regression was used to determine factors associated with all-cause mortality (ACM) and cancer-specific mortality (CSM). Results We found that among the 11824 patients, the number of patients who received chemotherapy (CT), radiotherapy (RT) and radical cystectomy (RC) was 6243 (52.8%), 2005 (17.0%) and 4987 (42.2%), respectively. Patients who received CT or RC had improved OS (26.4% vs. 11.7%, p