CIS of the Bladder: Significance and Implications for Therapy

Prognostic Factors for Intravesical Recurrence in NMIBC: Evaluating the Role of Pyuria, Bacteriuria, and Comorbidities

Background: The discovery of risk factors that might predict the recurrence of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is essential. Objectives: Therefore, this prospective cohort study aimed at examining the association between bacteriuria and pyuria before bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) installation and the occurrence of intravesical recurrence (IVR) in patients diagnosed with NMIBC. Methods: A total of 73 NMIBC patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) and BCG treatment were included. Pre-instillation urine samples were analyzed for pyuria and bacteriuria. Results: The findings of this study indicated that preoperative pyuria was present in 31 (42.5%) of the studied patients. Furthermore, a statistically significant association was detected between preoperative pyuria and preoperative proteinuria (P < 0.001), preoperative hematuria (P = 0.023), preoperative bacteriuria (P = 0.001), and muscle invasion (MI) (P = 0.028). The results of the univariate analysis indicated substantial associations between the variables of smoking, diabetes, carcinoma in situ (CIS), age, and IVR. Subsequently, a multivariate analysis indicated that diabetes (HR = 18.11, P = 0.004) and CIS (HR = 14.69, P = 0.039) had a statistically significant link with IVR. Conclusions: In conclusion, our study demonstrated that diabetes, CIS, and younger age were the sole independent prognostic factors for IVR. Furthermore, no statistically significant association was observed between pyuria, bacteriuria, and smoking with bladder tumor recurrence. The analyses revealed that pyuria emerged as a statistically significant predictive factor for IVR only among individuals without pre-instillation proteinuria.

Prognostic Factors for Intravesical Recurrence in NMIBC: Evaluating the Role of Pyuria, Bacteriuria, and Comorbidities

Background: The discovery of risk factors that might predict the recurrence of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is essential. Objectives: Therefore, this prospective cohort study aimed at examining the association between bacteriuria and pyuria before bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) installation and the occurrence of intravesical recurrence (IVR) in patients diagnosed with NMIBC. Methods: A total of 73 NMIBC patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) and BCG treatment were included. Pre-instillation urine samples were analyzed for pyuria and bacteriuria. Results: The findings of this study indicated that preoperative pyuria was present in 31 (42.5%) of the studied patients. Furthermore, a statistically significant association was detected between preoperative pyuria and preoperative proteinuria (P < 0.001), preoperative hematuria (P = 0.023), preoperative bacteriuria (P = 0.001), and muscle invasion (MI) (P = 0.028). The results of the univariate analysis indicated substantial associations between the variables of smoking, diabetes, carcinoma in situ (CIS), age, and IVR. Subsequently, a multivariate analysis indicated that diabetes (HR = 18.11, P = 0.004) and CIS (HR = 14.69, P = 0.039) had a statistically significant link with IVR. Conclusions: In conclusion, our study demonstrated that diabetes, CIS, and younger age were the sole independent prognostic factors for IVR. Furthermore, no statistically significant association was observed between pyuria, bacteriuria, and smoking with bladder tumor recurrence. The analyses revealed that pyuria emerged as a statistically significant predictive factor for IVR only among individuals without pre-instillation proteinuria.

Low-cost and label-free blue light cystoscopy through digital staining of white light cystoscopy videos

BACKGROUND

Bladder cancer is the 10th most common malignancy and carries the highest treatment cost among all cancers. The elevated cost stems from its high recurrence rate, which necessitates frequent surveillance. White light cystoscopy (WLC), the standard of care surveillance tool to examine the bladder for lesions, has limited sensitivity for early-stage bladder cancer. Blue light cystoscopy (BLC) utilizes a fluorescent dye to induce contrast in cancerous regions, improving the sensitivity of detection by 43%. Nevertheless, the added equipment cost and lengthy dwell time of the dye limits the availability of BLC.

METHODS

Here, we report the first demonstration of digital staining as a promising strategy to convert WLC images collected with standard-of-care clinical equipment into accurate BLC-like images, providing enhanced sensitivity for WLC without the associated labor or equipment cost.

RESULTS

By introducing key pre-processing steps to circumvent color and brightness variations in clinical datasets needed for successful model performance, the results achieve a staining accuracy of 80.58% and show excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement of the digitally stained WLC (dsWLC) images with ground truth BLC images, including color consistency.

CONCLUSIONS

In short, dsWLC can affordably provide the fluorescent contrast needed to improve the detection sensitivity of bladder cancer, thereby increasing the accessibility of BLC contrast for bladder cancer surveillance. The broader implications of this work suggest digital staining is a cost-effective alternative to contrast-based endoscopy for other clinical scenarios outside of urology that can democratize access to better healthcare.

Oncolytic adenoviral therapy plus pembrolizumab in BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: the phase 2 CORE-001 trial

Cretostimogene grenadenorepvec is a serotype-5 oncolytic adenovirus designed to selectively replicate in cancer cells with retinoblastoma pathway alterations, previously tested as monotherapy in bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-experienced non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. In this phase 2 study, we assessed the potential synergistic efficacy between intravesical cretostimogene and systemic pembrolizumab in patients with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer with carcinoma in situ (CIS). Thirty-five patients were treated with intravesical cretostimogene with systemic pembrolizumab. Induction cretostimogene was administered weekly for 6 weeks followed by three weekly maintenance infusions at months 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18 in patients maintaining complete response (CR). Patients with persistent CIS/high-grade Ta at the 3-month assessment were eligible for re-induction. Pembrolizumab was administered for up to 24 months. The primary endpoint was CR at 12 months as assessed by cystoscopy, urine cytology, cross-sectional imaging and mandatory bladder mapping biopsies. Secondary endpoints included CR at any time, duration of response, progression-free survival and safety. The CR rate in the intention-to-treat population at 12 months was 57.1% (20 out of 35, 95% confidence interval (CI) 40.7-73.5%), meeting the primary endpoint. A total of 29 out of 35 patients (82.9%, 95% CI 70.4-95.3%) derived a CR at 3 months. With a median follow-up of 26.5 months, the median duration of response has not been reached (95% CI 15.7 to not reached). The CR rate at 24 months was 51.4% (18 out of 35) (95% CI 34.9-68.0%). No patient progressed to muscle-invasive bladder cancer in this trial. Adverse events attributed to cretostimogene were low grade, self-limiting and predominantly limited to bladder-related symptoms. A total of 5 out of 35 patients (14.3%) developed grade 3 treatment-related adverse effects. There was no evidence of overlapping or synergistic toxicities. Combination intravesical cretostimogene and systemic pembrolizumab demonstrated enduring efficacy. With a toxicity profile similar to its monotherapy components, this combination may shift the benefit-to-risk ratio for patients with BCG-unresponsive CIS. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04387461 .

NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Bladder Cancer, Version 2.2022

The NCCN Guidelines for Bladder Cancer provide recommendations for the diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, and follow-up of patients with bladder cancer and other urinary tract cancers (upper tract tumors, urothelial carcinoma of the prostate, primary carcinoma of the urethra). These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the panel discussion behind recent important updates to the guidelines regarding the treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, including how to treat in the event of a bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) shortage; new roles for immune checkpoint inhibitors in non-muscle invasive, muscle-invasive, and metastatic bladder cancer; and the addition of antibody-drug conjugates for metastatic bladder cancer.