scholarly journals Reducing delays in the diagnosis and treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer using simulation modelling

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Chalk ◽  
Neil Trent ◽  
Sarath Vennam ◽  
John McGrane ◽  
Mark Mantle

Objective: To develop a simulation model to identify key bottlenecks in the bladder cancer pathway at Royal Cornwall Hospital and predict the impact of potential changes to reduce these delays. Materials and methods: The diagnosis and treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer can suffer numerous delays, which can significantly affect patient outcomes. We developed a discrete event computer simulation model of the flow of patients through the bladder cancer pathway at the hospital, using anonymised patient records from 2014 and 2015. The changes tested in the model were for patients suspected to have muscle-invasive disease on flexible cystoscopy. Those patients were ‘fast-tracked’ to receive their transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) treatment using operating slots kept free for these patients. A staging computed tomography scan was booked in the haematuria clinic. Pathology requests were marked as 48 hour turnaround. The nurse specialist would then speak to the patient whilst they were on the ward following their TURBT to give information about their ongoing treatment and provide support. Results: The model predicted that if the changes were implemented, delays in the system could be reduced by around 5 weeks. The changes were implemented, and analysis of 3 months of the data post-implementation shows that the average time in the system was reduced by 5 weeks. The environment created by the changes in the pathway improved referral to treatment times in both muscle-invasive and non-muscle-invasive groups. Conclusion: The simulation model proved an invaluable tool for facilitating the implementation of changes. Simple changes to the pathway led to significant reductions in delays for bladder cancer patients at Royal Cornwall Hospital. Level of evidence: Not applicable for this cohort study.

2016 ◽  
Vol 98 (8) ◽  
pp. 547-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
VA During ◽  
GM Sole ◽  
AK Jha ◽  
JA Anderson ◽  
RT Bryan

INTRODUCTION In the 75–80% of urothelial bladder cancers (UBC) presenting as non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) is the key treatment and staging procedure. In the 20–25% of patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), further cross-sectional imaging is required to complete the staging process before considering radical treatment. Given the adverse effects of ionising radiation, clinicians identify patients believed to have MIBC, and so requiring further imaging pre-TURBT, at the tumour histology/stage based on the tumour’s visual characteristics. There is minimal evidence describing the accuracy of such predictions in newly-diagnosed patients. METHODS Over a 6-year period, a database of patients undergoing resection of newly-diagnosed bladder lesions in a single UK centre was prospectively established. Predictions based on histology were simultaneously recorded, and the accuracy of these predictions of histology/stage subsequently assessed. RESULTS One hundred and twenty two (73.1%) patients with histologically confirmed NMIBC had predictions recorded versus 45 (26.9%) patients with MIBC. Visual assessment predictions of MIBC had a sensitivity of 88.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 76.5%–95.2%) and a specificity of 91.0% (95% CI 84.6%–94.9%), giving a positive predictive value of 78.4% (95% CI 65.4%–87.5%) and a negative predictive value of 95.7% (95% CI 90.3%–98.1%). CONCLUSIONS We find that visual assessment is accurate in predicting the presence of MIBC. This supports the practice of stratifying patients at the time of initial cystoscopy for those requiring further radiological staging pre-TURBT.


2021 ◽  
Vol Volume 13 ◽  
pp. 2937-2945
Author(s):  
Faris Abushamma ◽  
Zain Khayyat ◽  
Aya Soroghle ◽  
Sa’ed H Zyoud ◽  
Ahmad Jaradat ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 353.e17-353.e24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin T. Matulay ◽  
Solomon L. Woldu ◽  
Amy Lim ◽  
Vikram M. Narayan ◽  
Gen Li ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-38
Author(s):  
Ashok Kumar Kunwar ◽  
Kabir Tiwari ◽  
Sanjesh Bhakta Shrestha ◽  
Srijana Thapa ◽  
Ashish Kumar Panthee ◽  
...  

Background: Trans-urethral resection of bladder tumor is an essential diagnostic tool as well as effective treatment modality for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. We aimed to evaluate the recurrence and progression of the non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in Nepalese patients. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 43 patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, who underwent trans-urethral resection of bladder tumour followed by adjuvant intravesical instilla­tion of chemo or immunotherapy between January, 2013 to December, 2018. Patients were divided into low, intermediate and high-risk groups according to the clinical and pathological factors used by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer scoring system. Outcomes were calculated in terms of recurrence and progression in each group. Results: Out of 43 patients, 11 (25.58%) patients had low risk, 18 (41.86%) patients had intermediate risk and 14 (32.56%) patients had high risk of recurrence categories. No recurrence and progression of the disease noted in low risk group. In the intermediate risk group, out of 18 patients, 4 (22.2%) patients developed recurrence and 2 (11.1%) patients had progression of disease. In high risk group, out of 14 patients, 4 (26.8%) patients developed recurrence and 2 (14%) patients developed progres­sion of the disease. Conclusions: Even in a low volume centre of bladder cancer, effective treatment for non-muscle inva­sive bladder cancer with trans-urethral resection of bladder tumour followed by adjuvant intravesical chemo or immunotherapy can be given safely to reduce recurrence and progression of the disease.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (7_suppl) ◽  
pp. 421-421
Author(s):  
Yoshiyuki Nagumo ◽  
Shuya Kandori ◽  
Tomokazu Kimura ◽  
Takashi Kawahara ◽  
Takahiro Kojima ◽  
...  

421 Background: The current guidelines for muscle-invasive bladder cancer recommend the use of neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy followed by radical cystectomy. However, a trimodal approach involving the combination of maximal transurethral resection (TUR) and combined chemoradiotherapy is an alternative in selected patients. Clinical outcomes of patients with histologic variants have not well been known. Methods: From 1990 to 2015, 148 patients with cT2-3N0M0 muscle-invasive bladder cancer underwent trimodal bladder-preserving therapy consisting of maximal TUR of the bladder tumor, intra-arterial chemotherapy and radiotherapy at our institution. We compared complete response rate (CRR) of bladder preservation, 5-yr cause-specific survival (CSS), and 5-yr overall survival (OS) for the patients with pure urothelial carcinoma (UC) or variant UC. OS and CSS were analyzed by using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Results: The median follow-up was 38.3 months. All patients were T2-T3N0M0 (T2, n = 90; T3, n = 58). There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics between pure and variant UC groups. Eleven (7%) of the 148 patients had variant UC; 7 (64%) had UC with squamous and/or glandular differentiation, and 4 (36%) had other forms, including sarcomatoid (n = 1), plasmacytoid (n = 1), signet ring cell (n = 1), and clear cell variants (n = 1). There was no significant difference between pure UC and variant UC for CRR of bladder preservation (85% vs 82%, p = 0.66), the 5-yr CSS (88% vs 75%, p = 0.86) and the 5-yr OS (81% vs 75%, p = 0.66). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that trimodal bladder-preserving therapy can be an effective treatment option for selected muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients with variant UC.


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