Association of statin use with improved local control in patients treated with selective bladder preservation for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether statin use improves local control (LC) in patients undergoing organ-preserving trimodality therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.


METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed the data from 286 patients with muscle-invasive, transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder treated with maximal transurethral resection of the bladder tumor followed by chemoradiotherapy from 1986 to 2003 at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Patients with a complete response after induction chemoradiotherapy received consolidation chemoradiotherapy and those with an incomplete response underwent cystectomy. Of the 286 patients, 35 (12%) were known to be taking a statin during chemoradiotherapy. LC was defined as freedom from the development of muscle-invasive bladder cancer or superficial bladder cancer necessitating cystectomy.


RESULTS
The median follow-up time was 2.7 years for all patients and 3.1 years for survivors. The overall 5-year LC rate was 55%. On univariate analysis, tumor stage, completeness of transurethral resection of the bladder tumor, hydronephrosis, chemotherapy type, treatment era, and statin use were significantly associated with LC. The 5-year LC rate for patients taking a statin was 73% versus 52% for patients not taking a statin (P = 0.04). On multivariate analysis incorporating covariates that were statistically significant (P < 0.05) on univariate analysis, only chemotherapy with cisplatin (P = 0.02) and the absence of hydronephrosis (P = 0.01) remained significantly associated with LC.


CONCLUSIONS
Statin use was associated with an improvement in LC on univariate analysis but was not found to be independently associated with LC after controlling for known prognostic factors. The potential beneficial interaction between statin use and chemoradiotherapy in bladder cancer warrants further investigation in a prospective study.
Tsai
Henry K
HK
Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. htsai@partners.org
Katz
Matthew S
MS
Coen
John J
JJ
Zietman
Anthony L
AL
Kaufman
Donald S
DS
Shipley
William U
WU
D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001706:Biopsy; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015653:Cystectomy / Q000379:methods*; D003558:Cystoscopy; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors