The feasibility and effectiveness of robot-assisted radical cystectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Objectives The aim of this study was to compare 29 muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by immediate robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) with those who underwent minimum-incision endoscopic RC (MIE-RC). Methods We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 430 consecutive patients who underwent RC and bilateral pelvic node dissection (PLND) between May 1994 and July 2016. Our study focused on patients with MIBC who had histologically confirmed stage T2-T4aN0M0 urothelial carcinoma of the bladder and received NAC prior to surgery. Accordingly, 225 patients were included in this analysis, of whom, 29 underwent RARC (RARC group) and 196 underwent MIE-RC (MIE-RC group). The primary endpoints in this study were the positive surgical margin (PSM) rate and lymph node (LN) count. Results In the RARC group, 20 patients underwent RARC with intracorporeal urinary diversion and nine patients underwent RARC with extracorporeal urinary diversion. The median surgical duration for RC and bilateral PLND was 125 min in the RARC group and 98 min in the MIE-RC group (P < 0.001). The rate of PSM was 0% in the RARC group and 0.5% in the MIE-RC group. The median LN counts were 15 in the RARC group and 18 in the MIE-RC group. No intra-operative complication or mortality was associated with RARC or MIE-RP. All complications were grade 2 according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Conclusions Our initial experience with NAC followed by RARC appears to be favorable, with acceptable operative and perioperative clinical outcomes when compared with those of MIE-RC.