Patient Preferences for Treatment of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin–unresponsive Non–muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer: A Cross-country Choice Experiment

Abstract

BackgroundPatients with non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) that is unresponsive to bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy face a difficult choice. Immediate radical cystectomy (RC) is effective but might represent overtreatment. Continuing bladder preservation with medical therapy is an alternative, but it risks progression to muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and a reduction in survival. ObjectiveTo understand the trade-offs patients are willing to make in selecting treatments for BCG-unresponsive NMIBC. Design, setting, and participantsAdults with NMIBC from the UK, France, Germany, and Canada who reported current receipt of BCG, disease unresponsive to BCG, or receipt of RC in the previous 12 mo after failure of BCG were recruited to participate in an online choice experiment. Patients were asked to make repeated choices between two hypothetical medical treatments and the option to undergo immediate RC. The medical treatments required trade-offs between the time to RC, the mode and frequency of administration, the risk of experiencing serious side effects, and the risk of disease progression. Outcome measurements and statistical analysisError component logit models were used to calculate relative attribute importance (RAI) scores as the maximum percentage contribution to a preference and acceptable benefit-risk trade-offs. Results and limitationsMost of the 107 participants (average age 63 yr) never selected RC (89%) as their preferred option in the choice experiment. Preferences were most affected by time to RC (RAI 55%), followed by risk of progressing to MIBC (RAI 25%), medication administration (RAI 12%), and the risk of serious side effects (RAI 8%). To increase the time to RC from 1 yr to 6 yr, patients accepted a 43.8% increase in the risk of progression and a 66.1% increase in the risk of serious side effects. ConclusionsPatients with BCG-treated NMIBC valued bladder-sparing treatments and were willing to make substantial benefit-risk trade-offs to delay RC. Patient summaryAdults with bladder cancer not invading the bladder muscle completed an online experiment in which they chose between hypothetical medications and bladder removal. The results show that patients would be willing to accept different risks associated with medications to delay bladder removal. Patients considered disease progression the most important risk of medicinal treatment.