Age and outcome of superficial bladder cancer treated with bacille Calmette-Guérin therapy.

Overview

OBJECTIVES: To determine the influence of age on the outcomes of high-risk superficial bladder cancer treated with intravesical bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy. METHODS: A total of 805 patients with multiple or recurrent high-grade Ta, T1, and/or carcinoma in situ bladder cancer received BCG therapy. The endpoints were the initial response to BCG and cancer-free survival correlated with age among patients followed up for a minimum of 2 to 5 years. RESULTS: No difference was observed in the first response to BCG or cancer-free survival at 2 years among patients less than 50, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, 70 to 79, or 80 years or older. After 5 years, 27% of patients older than 70 years were cancer free compared with 37% younger than 70 years (P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study have shown that aging has a measurable, but small, impact on the overall outcomes of high-risk superficial bladder cancer.