Urethral recurrence of invasive carcinoma following BCG treatment for bladder Ca in situ

Abstract

CIS is a flat, high-grade, non-invasive microscopic urothelial carcinoma. It is considered a precursor of invasive bladder cancer. CIS is classified as primary, secondary or concurrent, when occurred as isolated CIS without cuncurrent papillary tumors, or detected during the follow-up of patients with a previous papillary tumor, or finally in the presence of bladder neoplasm. BCG is widely established as the treatment of choice for CIS with a success rate of approximately 70%. BCG reduces the risk of progression of CIS into invasive carcinoma in 30 to 50% of cases. Direct and prolonged contact between the urothelium and BCG is a prerequisite for successful therapy. Discovery of CIS in the prostatic or membranous urethra represents an ominous sign. CIS may be present only in the epithelial lining of the prostatic urethra or in the ducts, or in the worst case it may be found in the prostatic tissue stroma. Urethral involvement by CIS is at high risk of tumor progression and development of metastases due to reduced thickness of lamina propria and absence of muscolaris mucosa. 83 patients, enrolled from 1/1996 to 12/2005 at our urological department with CIS: primary (focal and multifocal) in 25, secondary in 7 and cuncurrent in 51 (associated with T1bG3 cancer in 37 cases), and urethral CIS in 5 and conservatively treated by TUR and intravescical instillations of BCG, 4 developed afterwords only invasive cancer of the urethra in the absence of bladder involvement. In 2 cases cancer arised from the prostatic fossa after TURP, in 1 from membranous urethra and in the last from prostatic ducts. Among the 4 patients, 3 were treated by cystoprostatourethrectomy and Platinum-based chemotherapy, 1 refused surgical treatment. Two patients died for disseminated disease. 1 patient is alive at 60-month's follow-up. In the last patient cancer relapsed at 36-month's follow-up. We conclude that prostatic/urethral involvement during follow-up after successful intravesical treatment with BCG in CIS represents a high risk of developing invasive and incontrolled cancer. A careful watch is recommended in these patients.