The impact of blue light cystoscopy use among patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in an equal access setting.

Abstract

461 Background: Prior studies suggest that white light cystoscopy (WLC) alone can fail to detect cases of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) compared to blue light cystoscopy (BLC). We describe bladder cancer outcomes and the impact of BLC among NMIBC patients in an equal access setting. Methods: A total of 378 NMIBC patients within the Veterans Affairs system that had a CPT code for BLC from December 1, 2014 to December 31, 2020 were assessed. We determined recurrence rates and time to recurrence prior to BLC (i.e. after previous WLC if available) and following BLC. We used the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate event-free survival and Cox regression to determine the association between race and recurrence, progression, and overall survival. Results: Of 378 patients with complete data, 43 (11%) were Black and 300 (79%) White. Median follow-up was 40.7 months from bladder cancer diagnosis. There were 194 (51%) patients with either TaHG or T1 without CIS; 52 (14%) had CIS with or without TaHG or T1; and 127 (34%) had TaLG only. A total of 239 (63%) patients received BCG at any point during the study. Median time to first recurrence following BLC was longer compared to WLC alone (40 (33-NE) vs. 26 (17-39) months). The risk of recurrence was significantly lower following BLC (Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.70; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.54-0.90). There was no significant difference in recurrence (Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.83; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.48-1.43), progression (HR 1.46; 95% CI 0.45-4.74), and overall survival (HR 0.69; 95% CI 0.29-1.65) following BLC by Black vs. White race. Conclusions: In this study from an equal access setting in the VA, we observed significantly decreased risk of recurrence and prolonged time interval to recurrence following BLC compared to WLC alone. There was no difference in any bladder cancer outcomes by race.