The application value of multi-parameter cystoscope in improving the accuracy of preoperative bladder cancer grading

Impact on Japanese healthcare economics of photodynamic diagnosis-assisted transurethral resection of bladder tumor for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: A multicenter retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

Bladder cancer, especially non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), is one of the most costly cancers owing to its long-term management. Photodynamic diagnosis-assisted transurethral resection of bladder tumor (PDD-TURBT) reduces the risk of intravesical recurrence. However, its impact on healthcare economics in Japan remains unclear. We evaluated the comprehensive medical costs of Japanese healthcare economics regarding PDD-TURBT.

METHODS

This large-scale, multicenter, retrospective study included a dataset of 1531 patients who were diagnosed with primary NMIBC who underwent initial TURBT between April 2006 and June 2021. A one-to-one propensity-score matching analysis was used for an unbiased comparison based on postTURBT follow-up periods. The total medical costs, including hospitalization, surgical procedures for TURBT and salvage radical cystectomy, adjuvant intravesical therapies, and follow-up examinations, were compared between white light (WL)-TURBT and PDD-TURBT groups.

RESULTS

After propensity-score matching, 468 patients each of WL- and PDD-TURBT groups were matched. Total costs were 510 337 128 and 514 659 328 ¥ in WL- and PDD-TURBT groups, respectively. The costs of adjuvant intravesical therapies, follow-up examinations, and salvage radical cystectomy in PDD-TURBT group were equivalent to or lower than those in WL-TURBT group. Furthermore, total costs of high- and highest-risk NMIBC in PDD-TURBT group were either equivalent or lower compared to those in WL-TURBT group.

CONCLUSIONS

The total costs associated with PDD-TURBT were higher compared to WL-TURBT, while there is the potential of PDD-TURBT to reduce the burden on healthcare economics in limited cases.

The vascular and morphological characteristics of tumors under narrow-band imaging as predictors for the grade and stage of bladder cancer: a prospective and multi-center study

The vascular and morphological features of tumors are important predictors of the nature, grade, and stage of various cancers. However, this association has not been tested in bladder cancer. The aim of our study was to investigate the correlation between the morphological characteristics of tumor vessels and the nature, stage and grade of bladder cancer. Between November 2021 and March 2023, we prospectively collated clinical information and cystoscopy information from a series of patients with bladder cancer. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to identify independent risk factors for the nature, grade and stage of bladder cancer. Our analysis showed that cauliflower-like tumors, dotted vessels, and circumferential vessels were independent risk factors for bladder cancer. Reticular vessels were an independent risk factor for high-grade bladder cancer. Thick branching vessels in bladder tumors, along with a wide base, were independent risk factors for the invasion of bladder cancer into the lamina propria. Primary diagnosis, lesion location (beside the left ureteral orifice) and obscure lesion boundaries were all identified as independent risk factors for muscle invasive bladder cancer.