Cancer stage and quality of life in bladder cancer.

Abstract

466 Background: Bladder cancer requires treatment and surveillance which varies in intensity by disease stage. Our objective was to evaluate stage-specific differences in generic and bladder cancer-specific quality of life (QOL) among a large bladder cancer cohort. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey of bladder cancer patients using the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network Patient Survey Network and Inspire platforms to determine generic and bladder cancer-specific QOL using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and Bladder Cancer Index. Patients were also queried regarding demographic, socioeconomic and clinical characteristics. We present descriptive statistics and a multiple linear regression model to identify factors independently associated with QOL domain score. Results: 972 respondents self-identified as patients with bladder cancer. Among respondents, 41% were female and 97% were white. The mean age was 67.6 years (range 29 to 93 years). Patients identified as having non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC, n=578 [63%]), MIBC (n=270, 30%), and metastatic bladder cancer (n=63, 7%). On bivariable analysis ( Table), lower stage was significantly associated with better generic (p<0.01) and bladder-cancer specific QOL (p<0.01). This associated persisted on multivariable analysis adjusted for age, sex, race, years since diagnosis, and comorbidity (p<0.01 for generic, urinary, sexual, and bowel QOL). Conclusions: Disease stage significantly impacts generic and bladder cancer-specific QOL among bladder cancer survivors. Differential impact by stage may be important for the development of tailored interventions to improve QOL for bladder cancer patients. [Table: see text]