MONDAY, Mar. 2 (HealthDay News) -- In patients who undergo radical cystectomy, overall survival and bladder cancer-specific survival are higher among those whose surgeons perform a high volume of the operations, according to research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Genitourinary Cancers Symposium held Feb. 26 to 28 in Orlando.
Adrian S. Fairey, M.D., of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and colleagues compared outcomes in 185 patients whose surgeons performed four or fewer procedures per year, 150 patients whose surgeons performed between five and nine procedures per year, and 177 patients whose surgeons performed at least 10 procedures per year.
Compared to patients whose surgeons performed four or fewer procedures per year, the researchers found that those whose surgeons performed either between five and nine, or at least 10 procedures per year had significantly increased overall survival (hazard ratios, 0.66 and 0.78, respectively) and bladder cancer-specific survival (hazard ratios, 0.63 and 0.67, respectively).
"Higher surgeon procedure volume was independently associated with a decreased risk of overall mortality and bladder cancer-specific mortality after radical cystectomy," the authors write.
Abstract
