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Article of the month: Understanding volume–outcome relationships in nephrectomy and cystectomy for cancer: evidence from the UK Getting it Right First Time programme

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Every month, the Editor-in-Chief selects an Article of the Month from the current issue of BJUI. The abstract is reproduced below and you can click on the button to read the full article, which is freely available to all readers for at least 30 days from the time of this post.

In addition to the article itself, there is an editorial written by a prominent member of the urological community and a video prepared by the authors; we invite you to use the comment tools at the bottom of each post to join the conversation. 

If you only have time to read one article this month, we recommend this one. 

Understanding volume–outcome relationships in nephrectomy and cystectomy for cancer: evidence from the UK Getting it Right First Time programme

William K. Gray*, Jamie Day*, Tim W. R. Briggs* and Simon Harrison*†

*Getting it Right First Time Programme, NHS England and NHS Improvement, London, UK and †Pinderfields Hospital, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Wakefield, UK

Read the full article

Abstract

Objectives

To investigate volume–outcome relationships in nephrectomy and cystectomy for cancer.

Materials and Methods

Data were extracted from the UK Hospital Episodes Statistics database, which records data on all National Health Service (NHS) hospital admissions in England. Data were included for a 5‐year period (April 2013–March 2018 inclusive) and data on emergency and paediatric admissions were excluded. Data were extracted on the NHS trust and surgeon undertaking the procedure, the surgical technique used (open, laparoscopic or robot‐assisted) and length of hospital stay during the procedure. This dataset was supplemented by data on mortality from the UK Office for National Statistics. A number of volume thresholds and volume measures were investigated. Multilevel modelling was used to adjust for hierarchy and confounding factors.

Results

Data were available for 18 107 nephrectomy and 6762 cystectomy procedures for cancer. There was little evidence of trust or surgeon volume influencing readmission rates or mortality. There was some evidence of shorter length of hospital stay for high‐volume surgeons, although the volume measure and threshold used were important.

Conclusions

We found little evidence that further centralization of nephrectomy or cystectomy for cancer surgery will improve the patient outcomes investigated. It may be that length of stay can be optimized though training and support for lower‐volume centres, rather than further centralization.

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#RudeFood: Foodporn for a purpose

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The Internet is full of weird and wonderful things. Of course, we all know what is most frequently viewed and shared online. That’s right – food! Nonetheless, when celebrity chef Manu Fieldel posted a photo of his latest creation, it certainly made people look long and hard!

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Name this dish – I like to call it the ‘Cockembouche’ Does it remind you of anything in par-dick-ular? 🤣 It's bursting with flavour and with one bite, will melt in your mouth. I’m not just posting this for the laugh – I've created this #rudefood dish in support of @anzuptrials who work tirelessly conducting clinical trials to improve the treatment and outcomes of penile, testicular, bladder, kidney & prostate cancer these cancers are the ones that don’t make the headlines and people don’t want to talk about but we need to change that. Share your #rudefood – food porn with a purpose and use the hashtag #rudefood tagging @anzuptrials And let’s raise awareness for these cancers. #foodpornwithapurpose #cockembouche #anzup

A post shared by Manu Feildel (@manufeildelofficial) on

Soon it became clear that this naughty creation had a noble purpose – supporting a campaign to raise awareness of the so-called #BelowTheBelt cancers. While most people may have heard of prostate and bladder cancers, being relatively common, other #BelowTheBelt cancers such as penile and testicular cancers are rarer and relatively unknown. To make matters worse, these cancers affect men either exclusively or predominantly – and we all know how reluctant men can be to go to the doctors.

Hence, the #RudeFood campaign was developed by the Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate (ANZUP) Cancer Trials Group. ANZUP is the peak co-operative trials group for #BelowTheBelt cancers in Australia and New Zealand. ANZUP has and continues to develop and run many significant clinical trials, including the Enzamet and Enzarad trials for prostate cancer, the Phase III accelerated BEP trial for germ-cell tumours, the sequential BCG-mitomycin trial for bladder cancer and the Eversun and Unison trials in kidney cancer.

The week started with things heating up at ANZUP as they brought #RudeFood to the unsuspecting world!

Manu’s phallic creation was also matched by Ainsley Harriot, Sonia Meffadi and Monty Kulodrovic.

To counterpoint the raunch, there were also poignant personal connections from Simon Leong and Scott Gooding who both described family members who had suffered from prostate cancer.

Over the week, #RudeFood has certainly drawn some attention, including from media outlets such as Mamamia, news.com.au and GOAT. 

A poetic contribution on #RudeFood caught the eye of @UroPoet across the seas. Let us hope this campaign will also lead to greater awareness of #BelowTheBelt cancers and improved outcomes for those affected by them.

Shomik Sengupta is Professor of Surgery at the EHCS of Monash University and visiting urologist & Uro-Oncology lead at Eastern Health. Shomik has particular interests in prostate cancer, including open and robotic prostatectomy, as well as bladder cancer, including cystectomy with neobladder diversion. Shomik is the current leader of the UroOncology SAG within USANZ, and the past chair of Victorian urology training.  Shomik is a Board member and scientific advisory member of the ANZUP Cancer trials group and is heavily involved in numerous clinical trials in GU oncology.

Twitter: @shomik_s 

Article of the month: Effect of timing of an immediate instillation of mitomycin C after TUR in 941 patients with NMIBC

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Every month, the Editor-in-Chief selects an Article of the Month from the current issue of BJUI. The abstract is reproduced below and you can click on the button to read the full article, which is freely available to all readers for at least 30 days from the time of this post.

In addition to the article itself, there is an accompanying editorial written by a prominent member of the urological community. This blog is intended to provoke comment and discussion and we invite you to use the comment tools at the bottom of each post to join the conversation.

If you only have time to read one article this week, it should be this one.

The effect of timing of an immediate instillation of mitomycin C after transurethral resection in 941 patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Judith Bosschieter*, R. Jeroen A. van Moorselaar*, André N. Vis*, Tessa van Ginkel*, Birgit I. Lissenberg‐Witte†, Goedele M.A. Beckers* and Jakko A. Nieuwenhuijzen*

 

Departments of *Urology and †Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 

Read the full article

Abstract

Objective

To investigate whether the timing of an immediate instillation of mitomycin C (on the day of transurethral resection of bladder tumour [TURBT] or 1 day later) has an impact on time to recurrence of non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

Patients and Methods

All patients with NMIBC who were enrolled in a prospective trial between 1998 and 2003, and treated with an early mitomycin C instillation (on the day of TURBT or 1 day later), were selected. Statistical analysis was performed with Kaplan–Meier curves and multivariable Cox regression.

Fig. 1 Kaplan–Meier analysis showing time to recurrence for patients treated with an immediate instillation of MMC on the day of TURBT (Day‐0 group) or 1 day after (Day‐1 group).

Results

Administering an instillation of mitomycin C on the day of TURBT or 1 day later did not show a statistically significant difference in time to recurrence in a univariable model (log‐rank P = 0.99). After correcting for the number of scheduled adjuvant instillations, no statistically significant difference could be detected either: hazard ratio 1.05 (95% confidence interval 0.81–1.35, P = 0.74).

Conclusion

These data do not support the hypothesis that a very early instillation (on the day of TURBT) of mitomycin C decreases the risk of recurrence as compared with an early instillation (1 day after TURBT).

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Editorial: Postoperative intravesical chemotherapy has an important role in reducing subsequent bladder tumours – why is it not routine?

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Transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) is a frequent operation performed by urologists worldwide. Although on occasion the procedure can be quite challenging, the majority are relatively straightforward with little morbidity. In most cases, where the medical system allows, it is an outpatient procedure. Nonetheless, with the exception of small low‐grade tumours the patient is anaesthetised. It is costly, as the procedure requires medical clearance, an operating room team and equipment.

Most patients with bladder cancer have Ta or less frequently T1 tumours. Despite an initial TURBT, 30–80% of patients develop another tumour. Most are new tumours and some may be recurrences. The reasons for the high ‘recurrence’ rate are the continued impact of the carcinogen, e.g. cigarettes, incomplete resection, missed tumours, and tumour implantation on the altered urothelium. The urologist can help reduce these events by stressing the importance of limiting carcinogen exposure e.g. smoking cessation, striving to perform a complete TURBT, reviewing the entire bladder after the TURBT to avoid missing tumours (using narrow‐band imaging or fluorescent cystoscopy if available), and limiting implantation of tumour cells on the altered urothelial surface with the use of postoperative intravesical chemotherapy (POIVC).

There is a large body of evidence that POIVC reduces the chance of a subsequent tumour [1]. I became convinced that implantation occurs after animal studies demonstrated that bladder cancer cells placed into the bladder preferentially implant and grow only if the urothelial surface had been cauterised or otherwise damaged prior to exposure to the bladder cancer cells [2]. Prospective randomised trials eventually confirmed the benefit of POIVC [3]. The paper published in this issue of the BJUI by Bosschieter et al. [4] indicates that POIVC is equally effective if given the same day or the day after TURBT. Thus, if there are obstacles to instilling the medication on the day of the TURBT the drug can be administered the following day.

The evidence in favour of POIVC for bladder tumours is particularly impressive for Grade 1–2 Ta tumours. In my view, all patients with primary or ‘recurrent’ single or multiple papillary Grade 1–2 Ta tumours are the optimal candidates to receive POIVC [5]. POIVC is recommended by the European Association of Urology (EAU) and AUA/Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) [6,7] yet, the adoption of this guideline is far from uniform. I queried my colleagues from the International Bladder Cancer group (IBCG), as they are conversant in the scientific basis for POIVC and represent several countries with different medical systems [8]. Their comments are pertinent and consistent with my understanding of the issues. Here are some of the common reasons for not following the guidelines: (i) Some urologists are not convinced that the reduction in the ‘recurrence’ rate is sufficient to use POIVC. (ii) The most common chemotherapeutic agent for POIVC in the USA is mitomycin C and it is expensive. The cost for 40 mg is ~$1000. It is approximately $500 in Europe. (iii) Hospitals have rules regarding the delivery of chemotherapy and the pharmacy and nursing departments may not make it easy to instil the drug in the postoperative setting. Some hospitals require notification a day before the surgery and the drug is wasted if the drug is not used. (iv) Urologists are concerned about extravasation and uncertainty of the tumour grade and stage. There may be other reasons but these help explain why POIVC is not routine.

On the other hand many patients with bladder cancer require frequent TURBTs. I am certain that following an uneventful TURBT or office cauterisation for Grade 1–2 Ta bladder cancer, they would choose to receive POIVC if properly informed. Urologists are proficient at judging whether a tumour fits the criteria for POIVC and if they underestimate the grade or stage the patient may still benefit. If urologists cannot instil the chemotherapy on the day of the TURBT, they can instil the drug the following day without compromising effectiveness. I believe it is our job to do what we can to help our patients and in this instance we should do our best to minimise subsequent tumour events, which includes the use of adjuvant chemotherapy.

Mark S. Soloway

Memorial Hospital Hollywood, Miami, FL, USA

References

  1. Perlis N, Zlotta AR, Beyene J, Finelli A, Fleshner NE, Kulkarni GS. Immediate post‐ transurethral resection of bladder tumor intravesical chemotherapy prevents non‐muscle invasive bladder tumor recurrence: an updated meta‐analysis on 2548 patients and quality –of‐evidence review. Eur Urol 2013; 64: 421–30
  2. Weldon TE, Soloway MS. Susceptibility of urothelium to neoplastic cellular implantation. Urology 1975; 5: 824–7
  3. Tolley DA, Hargreave TB, Smith PH et al. Effect of intravesical mitomycin C on recurrence of newly diagnosed superficial bladder cancer: interim report from the Medical Research Council Subgroup on Superficial Bladder cancer. Br Med J 1988; 296: 1259–61
  4. Bosschchieter J, von Moorselaar JA, Vis AN et al. The effect of timing of an immediate instillation of mitomycin C after transurethral resection in 941 patients with non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer. BJU Int 2018; 122: 571–5
  5. Klaassen Z, Soloway MS. European Association of Urology and American Urological Association/Society of Urologic Oncology guidelines on risk categories for non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer may lead to overtreatment for low‐grade Ta bladder tumors. Urology 2017; 105: 14–7
  6. Babjuk M, Böhle A, Burger M et al. EAU guidelines in non‐muscle invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder: update 2016. Eur Urol 2017; 71: 447–61
  7. Chang SS, Boorjian SA, Chou R et al. Diagnosis and treatment of non‐muscle invasive bladder cancer: AUA/SUO guideline. J Urol 2016; 196: 1021–9
  8. Brausi M, Witjes F, Lamm D et al. A review of current guidelines and best proactive recommendations for the management of nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer by the International Bladder Cancer Group. J Urol 2011; 186: 2158–67

 

Highlights from the Irish Society of Urology Annual Meeting 2018

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Dr Kent T. Perry Jr. delivers a lecture on minimally invasive kidney surgery

The Irish Society of Urology annual meeting has a strong tradition of attracting world class guest speakers, and this year was no different. We were joined by Dr Kent T. Perry Jr. (Co-Director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Program & Associated Professor at Northwestern University Chicago), Professor Hendrik Van Poppel (Adj. Secretary General of EAU for Education), Mr Jeremy Ockrim (Honorary Lecturer and Consultant Urologist at University College London), Mr Kieran O’Flynn (Immediate BAUS past president and Consultant Urologist at Salford Royal Foundation), and Dr Matthias Hofer (Assistant Professor at Dept. Urology, Northwestern University Chicago). The excellent programme of guest speakers started on Friday afternoon with Dr Matthias Hofer’s talk on urethral reconstruction-a ‘no frills’ overview of a complex topic which surely inspired several trainees in the room to consider a career in Reconstructive Urology.

The historic Strokestown House, Co. Roscommon

The Saturday formal dinner was held in the historic Strokestown House in Roscommon-the former home of the Packenham Mahon family, built on the site of a 16th Century castle, which was home to the O’Conor-Roe Gaelic Chieftains. It is now the site of the National Famine Museum. We were treated to a fascinating tour of the house on arrival, before enjoying a wonderful dinner, and some fantastic harp-playing. The presidential chain was conferred to the incoming president, Mr Paul Sweeney of The Mercy University Hospital in Cork, and the society are already looking ahead to exciting things during his tenure as president.

 

About the authors:

Dr Clare O’Connell is a first year Urology SpR in the Department of Urology & Transplant in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin (@oconnellclare).

 

 

 

Dr Sorcha O’Meara is a second year Urology SHO in the Department of Urology in The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin (@sorchaOm).

 

 

 

Residents’ Podcast: CUA 2018 review

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Jesse Ory and Andrea Kokorovic
Department of Urology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

Dalhousie residents Jesse Ory and Andrea Kokorovic sum up the highlights of day 1 at the 2018 Canadian Urological Association annual meeting in Halifax

Song credits
Don’t fear the reaper: Blue oyster cult
Mute city: F Zero
Mortal Kombat Theme: The Immortals
Funky Suspense – Bensound.com

BJUI Podcasts now available on iTunes, subscribe here https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/bju-international/id1309570262

 

 

Article of the Week: Impact of bladder cancer on health‐related quality of life

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Every Week, the Editor-in-Chief selects an Article of the Week from the current issue of BJUI. The abstract is reproduced below and you can click on the button to read the full article, which is freely available to all readers for at least 30 days from the time of this post.

In addition to the article itself, there is an accompanying editorial written by a prominent member of the urological community. This blog is intended to provoke comment and discussion and we invite you to use the comment tools at the bottom of each post to join the conversation.

Finally, the third post under the Article of the Week heading on the homepage will consist of additional material or media. This week we feature a video discussing the paper.

If you only have time to read one article this week, it should be this one.

Impact of bladder cancer on health‐related quality of life

Angela B. Smith*†, Byron Jaeger‡, Laura C. Pinheiro§, Lloyd J. Edwards‡, Hung-Jui Tan*†, Matthew E. Nielsen*†¶ and Bryce B. Reeve†§

 

*Department of Urology , †Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Multidisciplinary Genitourinary Oncology, ‡Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, §Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health , and Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

 

Read the full article

Abstract

Objectives

To identify changes in health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) after diagnosis of bladder cancer in older adults in comparison with a group of adults without bladder cancer (controls).

Patients and Methods

Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registries were linked with Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (MHOS) data. Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥65 years in the period 1998–2013, who were diagnosed with bladder cancer between baseline and follow‐up through the MHOS, were matched with control subjects without cancer using propensity scores. Linear mixed models were used to estimate predictors of HRQoL changes.

Results

After matching, 535 patients with bladder cancer (458 non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer [NMIBC] and 77 with muscle‐invasive bladder cancer [MIBC]) and 2 770 control subjects without cancer were identified. Both patients with NMIBC and those with MIBC reported significant declines in HRQoL scores over time vs controls: physical component summary −2 and −5.3 vs −0.4, respectively; bodily pain −1.9 and −3.6 vs −0.7; role physical −2.7 and −4.7 vs −0.7; general health −2.4 and −6.1 vs 0; vitality −1.2 and −3.5 vs −0.1; and social functioning −2.1 and −5.7 vs −0.8. All scores ranged from 0 to 100. When stratified by time since diagnosis, HRQoL improved over 1 year for some domains (role physical), but remained lower across most domains.

Conclusions

After diagnosis, patients with bladder cancer experienced significant declines in physical, mental and social HRQoL relative to controls. Decrements were most pronounced among individuals with MIBC. Methods to better understand and address HRQoL decrements among patients with bladder cancer are needed.

Read more articles of the week

Video: Centralisation of RC for bladder cancer in England

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Centralisation of radical cystectomies for bladder cancer in England, a decade on from the ‘Improving Outcomes Guidance’: the case for super centralisation

Read the full article

Abstract

Objective

To analyse the impact of centralisation of radical cystectomy (RC) provision for bladder cancer in England, on postoperative mortality, length of stay (LoS), complications and re-intervention rates, from implementation of centralisation from 2003 until 2014. In 2002, UK policymakers introduced the ‘Improving Outcomes Guidance’ (IOG) for urological cancers after a global cancer surgery commission identified substantial shortcomings in provision of care of RCs. One key recommendation was centralisation of RCs to high-output centres. No study has yet robustly analysed the changes since the introduction of the IOG, to assess a national healthcare system that has mature data on such institutional transformation.

Patients and Methods

RCs performed for bladder cancer in England between 2003/2004 and 2013/2014 were analysed from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data. Outcomes including 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year all-cause postoperative mortality; median LoS; complication and re-intervention rates, were calculated. Multivariable statistical analysis was undertaken to describe the relationship between each surgeon and the providers’ annual case volume and mortality.

Results

In all, 15 292 RCs were identified. The percentage of RCs performed in discordance with the IOG guidelines reduced from 65% to 12.4%, corresponding with an improvement in 30-day mortality from 2.7% to 1.5% (P = 0.024). Procedures adhering to the IOG guidelines had better 30-day mortality (2.1% vs 2.9%; P = 0.003) than those that did not, and better 1-year mortality (21.5% vs 25.6%; P < 0.001), LoS (14 vs 16 days; P < 0.001), and re- intervention rates (30.0% vs 33.6%; P < 0.001). Each single extra surgery per centre reduced the odds of death at 30 days by 1.5% (odds ratio [OR] 0.985, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.977–0.992) and 1% at 1 year (OR 0.990, 95% CI 0.988–0.993), and significantly reduced rates of re-intervention.

Conclusion

Centralisation has been implemented across England since the publication of the IOG guidelines in 2002. The improved outcomes shown, including that a single extra procedure per year per centre can significantly reduce mortality and re-intervention, may serve to offer healthcare planners an evidence base to propose new guidance for further optimisation of surgical provision, and hope for other healthcare systems that such widespread institutional change is achievable and positive.

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Editorial: Examining the role of centralisation of radical cystectomy for bladder cancer

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Despite the high risk of postoperative complications and/or death, radical cystectomy (RC) is currently considered as the standard of care for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) without clinical evidence of metastases at initial diagnosis. As an alternative, trimodality bladder-sparing therapy with a potentially more favourable toxicity profile has been developed over recent decades, but definitive surgery may provide better cancer control outcomes, especially in fit individuals. Consequently, efforts have been made recently to improve RC quality by introducing new concepts in the perioperative management of patients with MIBC. For example, the implementation of robot-assisted techniques and enhanced recovery protocols may help to reduce surgical stress and facilitate discharge after early rehabilitation. Nonetheless, such valuable interventions are more likely to be delivered at expert centres in MIBC management.

Interestingly, given that surgical experience mostly comes from surgical volume, numerous studies suggest that there is an inverse relationship between hospital as well as surgeon volume and morbidities for major surgeries including RC. Specifically, a recent meta-analysis showed that high-volume hospitals (odds ratio [OR] 0.55, 95% CI: 0.44–0.69; P < 0.001) and surgeons (OR 0.58, 95% CI: 0.46–0.73; P < 0.001) were significantly associated with a lower risk of death after RC [1]. As a result, centralisation of RC at high-output centres has been advocated worldwide to optimise perioperative management of patients with MIBC and improve short-term outcomes.

In this issue of the BJUI, Afshar et al. [2] eloquently show that such a healthcare policy can be effective at the population level. The authors impressively collected perioperative information on >15 000 RC patients from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) dataset in England, where the ‘Improving Outcomes Guidance’ (IOG) programme recommends since 2002 that RC should be performed by surgeons operating at least five cases per year at centres carrying out ≥50 procedures per year. Interestingly, they found that the proportion of RC performed in discordance with IOG guidelines decreased from 60.7% in 2003 to 12.4% in 2013. This resulted in a significant improvement in the overall 30-day crude mortality rate, with a reduction from 2.7% to 1.5% over the 11-year period (P = 0.02). After adjusting for available confounding, RC patients in the non-IOG-compliant group were more likely to die at 30 days (OR 1.41, 95% CI: 1.13–1.76) or 1 year (OR 1.31, 95% CI: 1.21–1.43) as compared to those in the IOG-compliant group. When analysing the incremental effect of hospital volume, each extra RC per year reduced the risk of death at 30 days and 1 year by 1.5% (OR 0.985, 95% CI: 0.977–0.992) and 1% (OR 0.990, 95% CI: 0.988–0.993), respectively. Although there was no significant difference in the odds of postoperative complications between the two groups (OR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.88–1.04), the risk of re-intervention was higher in the non-IOG-compliant group (OR 1.20, 95% CI: 1.12–1.30). It is noteworthy that, as observed for the risk of death, each extra RC decreased the risk of re-intervention (OR 0.99, 95% CI: 0.991–0.995). In conclusion, the findings by Afshar et al. [2] suggest that urologists have embraced centralisation of care for RC patients in England and this is likely to have positively affected the short-term outcomes.

Although, as acknowledged by the authors, many limitations related to the administrative nature of the HES dataset (e.g. missing data or coding errors) may have influenced the aforementioned results, other reports from the USA are consistent with this study. Specifically, it has been estimated that up to 40% of the decline in 30-day mortality after RC from 2000 to 2008 was attributable to centralisation of care [3]. In addition, other RC quality criteria, such as adequate pelvic lymph node dissection at the time of surgery, have improved after similar centralisation in the Netherlands between 2006 and 2012 [4]. As such, centralisation of RC offers many undisputable advantages, but given that travel distance to the treating facility may represent an important barrier for patients with MIBC seeking surgical care, concerns have been raised with regards to potential drawbacks, including increased time to definitive surgery. However, a recent report from the USA showed that, although centralisation of RC has led to a decrease overall access to the treating facilities, the process simultaneously improved access to high-volume centres [5]. It is noteworthy that hospital volume standards for centralisation of RC should not be set too high to avoid unreasonable travel burdens on patients with MIBC [6].

To summarise, centralisation of care is arguably the best way to go, to continue improving quality of RC and its associated short-term outcomes in the near future. Despite inherent limitations, virtually all available evidence, including the study by Afshar et al. [2], converge toward the general concept that RC patients should be managed by experienced urologists operating at expert centres with trained surgical teams.

Thomas Seisen 
Department of Urology, Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, Assistance Publique des Hopitaux de Paris, Paris Sorbonne University, Paris, France

 

Read the full article

 

References

 

1 Goossens-Laan CA, Gooiker GA, van Gijn W et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between hospital/surgeon volume and outcome for radical cystectomy: an update for the ongoing debate. Eur Urol 2011; 59: 775–83

 

2 Afshar M, Goodfellow H, Jackson-Spence F et al. Centralisation of radical cystectomies for bladder cancer in England, a decade on from the ‘Improving Outcomes Guidance’: the case for super centralisation. BJU Int 2018; 121: 217–24 166

 

 3 Finks JF, Osborne NH, Birkmeyer JD. Trends in hospital volume and operative mortality for high-risk surgery. N Engl J Med 2011; 364: 2128–37

 

4 Hermans TJ, Fransen van de Putte EE, Fossion LM et al. Variations in
pelvic lymph node dissection in invasive bladder cancer: a Dutch

 

nationwide population-based study during centralization of care. Urol
Oncol 2016;34:532. e7–532.e12

 

5 Casey MF, Wisnivesky J, Le VH et al. The relationship between centralization of care and geographic barriers to cystectomy for bladder cancer. Bladder Cancer 2016; 2: 319–27

 

6 Birkmeyer JD, Siewers AE, Marth NJ, Goodman DC. Regionalization of high-risk surgery and implications for patient travel times. JAMA 2003; 290: 2703–8

 

Article of the Week: Centralisation of RC for bladder cancer in England

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Every Week, the Editor-in-Chief selects an Article of the Week from the current issue of BJUI. The abstract is reproduced below and you can click on the button to read the full article, which is freely available to all readers for at least 30 days from the time of this post.

In addition to the article itself, there is an accompanying editorial written by a prominent member of the urological community. This blog is intended to provoke comment and discussion and we invite you to use the comment tools at the bottom of each post to join the conversation.

Finally, the third post under the Article of the Week heading on the homepage will consist of additional material or media. This week we feature a video discussing the paper.

If you only have time to read one article this week, it should be this one.

Centralisation of radical cystectomies for bladder cancer in England, a decade on from the ‘Improving Outcomes Guidance’: the case for super centralisation

Mehran Afshar*, Henry Goodfellow†, Francesca Jackson-Spence‡, Felicity Evison§, John Parkin§, Richard T. Bryan‡, Helen Parsons, Nicholas D. James§‡ and Prashant Patel§‡

 

*St George’s Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK, †The Royal Free London NHS Trust, London, UK, ‡University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, §University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK, and Clinical Trials Unit, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

Read the full article

Abstract

Objective

To analyse the impact of centralisation of radical cystectomy (RC) provision for bladder cancer in England, on postoperative mortality, length of stay (LoS), complications and re-intervention rates, from implementation of centralisation from 2003 until 2014. In 2002, UK policymakers introduced the ‘Improving Outcomes Guidance’ (IOG) for urological cancers after a global cancer surgery commission identified substantial shortcomings in provision of care of RCs. One key recommendation was centralisation of RCs to high-output centres. No study has yet robustly analysed the changes since the introduction of the IOG, to assess a national healthcare system that has mature data on such institutional transformation.

Patients and Methods

RCs performed for bladder cancer in England between 2003/2004 and 2013/2014 were analysed from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data. Outcomes including 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year all-cause postoperative mortality; median LoS; complication and re-intervention rates, were calculated. Multivariable statistical analysis was undertaken to describe the relationship between each surgeon and the providers’ annual case volume and mortality.

Results

In all, 15 292 RCs were identified. The percentage of RCs performed in discordance with the IOG guidelines reduced from 65% to 12.4%, corresponding with an improvement in 30-day mortality from 2.7% to 1.5% (P = 0.024). Procedures adhering to the IOG guidelines had better 30-day mortality (2.1% vs 2.9%; P = 0.003) than those that did not, and better 1-year mortality (21.5% vs 25.6%; P < 0.001), LoS (14 vs 16 days; P < 0.001), and re- intervention rates (30.0% vs 33.6%; P < 0.001). Each single extra surgery per centre reduced the odds of death at 30 days by 1.5% (odds ratio [OR] 0.985, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.977–0.992) and 1% at 1 year (OR 0.990, 95% CI 0.988–0.993), and significantly reduced rates of re-intervention.

Conclusion

Centralisation has been implemented across England since the publication of the IOG guidelines in 2002. The improved outcomes shown, including that a single extra procedure per year per centre can significantly reduce mortality and re-intervention, may serve to offer healthcare planners an evidence base to propose new guidance for further optimisation of surgical provision, and hope for other healthcare systems that such widespread institutional change is achievable and positive.

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