Thromboembolic events in patients with urothelial carcinoma undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radical cystectomy

OBJECTIVES: Patients receiving cisplatin are at high risk of thromboembolic events (TEEs). The objective of this study was to assess the effect of cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) on the incidence of perioperative TEEs in patients undergoing radical cystectomy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We analyzed a consecutive sample of 202 patients with urothelial carcinoma treated with radical cystectomy between 2005 and 2013. Data were collected retrospectively by reviewing medical records. Median follow-up was 16.9 months. Events of interest were defined as venous or arterial TEEs occurring from the date of diagnosis to 30 days after surgery. TEE incidence among patients treated with NCT and cystectomy was compared with that among patients treated with cystectomy alone using Fisher exact test and Cox proportional hazards regression. Proportional hazards regression was also used to assess whether TEE is a predictor of cancer progression and survival. RESULTS: Of 202 patients, 17 (8.4%) developed a TEE, including 8 of 42 (19.1%) treated with NCT and cystectomy and 9 of 160 (5.6%) treated with cystectomy alone (risk ratio = 3.39, 95% CI: 1.39-8.24). After adjustment for observation time, there remained an association between treatment with NCT and risk of TEE (hazard ratio = 2.40; 95% CI: 0.92-6.27; P = 0.07). Overall, 7 events occurred before cystectomy and 10 occurred postoperatively. Among patients treated with NCT, 6 of 8 events occurred before cystectomy. Detection of TEE was clinically significant as preoperative TEE was found to be an independent predictor of progression and cancer-specific mortality (adjusted hazard ratio = 3.91, 95% CI: 1.34-11.45). The main limitations of our study are its retrospective data collection and small absolute number of events. CONCLUSIONS: TEE occurs commonly in patients with urothelial carcinoma undergoing NCT. Preoperative TEE is an independent predictor of progression and cancer-specific mortality.