title: Impact of surgical margin status on the outcome of bladder cancer treated by radical cystectomy: a meta-analysis.
abstract: Data regarding the association between surgical margin status and the outcome of bladder cancer treated by radical cystectomy (RC) are conflicting. Therefore, the present meta-analysis was performed to assess the associations between the outcomes of bladder cancer, in terms of recurrence-free survival (RFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS), and the presence of positive surgical margins versus negative surgical margins following treatment with RC. Research articles published prior to April 2016 were identified from Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library databases. A total of 36 articles were included, with a sample size of 38,384 bladder cancer patients. Of these, 4,354 patients were reported to have positive surgical margins. Significant associations were detected between positive surgical margins following RC and unfavorable RFS [summary relative risk estimate (SRRE), 1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.46-1.83; P = 0.105], CSS (SRRE, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.63-2.04; P = 0.001) and OS (SRRE, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.58-1.80; P = 0.805), by fixed or random effects models. The findings were consistent independently of age, sample size, publication year, follow-up duration, study type and geographical region. In summary, the present findings demonstrate that the presence of positive surgical margins is associated with poor survival outcomes in bladder cancer following RC, indicating that avoidance of positive surgical margins during surgery is helpful to improve the prognosis of patients with bladder cancer.
authors: Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors: Xuwei
authors: X
authors: Hong
authors: Department of Urology, The People's Hospital of Hunan Province, First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, P. R. China.
authors: Tieqiu
authors: T
authors: Li
authors: Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors: Fengsheng
authors: F
authors: Ling
authors: Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors: Dashan
authors: D
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Healthy Management, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors: Lina
authors: L
authors: Hou
authors: Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors: Fei
authors: F
authors: Li
authors: Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors: Wanlong
authors: W
authors: Tan
mesh_terms: D015653:Cystectomy / Q000379:methods*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D000072662:Margins of Excision; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: bladder cancer; meta-analysis; outcome; radical cystectomy; surgical margin status