The Impact of Cisplatin- or Non-Cisplatin-Containing Chemotherapy on Long-Term and Conditional Survival of Patients with Advanced Urinary Tract Cancer

Background: The impact of cisplatin use on long-term survival of unselected patients with advanced urinary tract cancer (aUTC) has not been adequately investigated. We used a multinational database to study long-term survival and the impact of treatment type in unselected patients with aUTC. Materials and Methods: A total of 1,333 patients with aUTC (cT4bN0M0, cTanyN+M0, cTanyNanyM+), transitional-cell, squamous, or adenocarcinoma histology who received systemic chemotherapy and had available survival data were selected. Long-term survival was defined as alive at 3 years following initiation of first-line chemotherapy. Conditional overall survival (COS) analysis was employed to study change in prognosis given time survived from initiation of first-line chemotherapy. Results: Median follow-up was 31.7 months. The combination of cisplatin use and cisplatin eligibility accurately predicted long-term survival. Eligible patients treated with cisplatin conferred a 31.6% probability of 3-year survival (95% confidence interval [CI]: 25.1–38.3), and 2-year COS for patients surviving 3 years after initiation of cisplatin-based chemotherapy was 83% (95% CI: 59.7–93.5). The respective probabilities for patients who were ineligible for cisplatin or not treated with cisplatin despite eligibility were 14% (95% CI: 10.8–17.6) and 49.3% (95% CI: 28.2–67.4). Two-year COS remained significantly different between these two groups up to 3 years after chemotherapy initiation. Conclusion: Cisplatin-based therapy was associated with the highest likelihood of long-term survival in patients with aUTC and should be used in patients who fulfill the established eligibility criteria. Novel therapies are necessary to increase long-term survival in cisplatin-ineligible patients. Implications for Practice: Long-term, disease-free survival is possible in one in four eligible-for-cisplatin patients with advanced urinary tract cancer (aUTC) treated with cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy. Therefore, deviations from eligibility criteria should be avoided. Consolidation surgery should be considered in responders. These data provide benchmarks for the study of novel therapies in aUTC.