Long-term quality of life in patients with bladder cancer following radical cystectomy

Objectives To investigate changes in quality of life (QoL) up to 8 years after radical cystectomy (RC) and compare QoL after RC with a gender- and age-matched Dutch normative population. Furthermore, we aimed to identify patient characteristics associated with QoL and QoL trajectories after RC. Patients and methods Patients with bladder cancer were invited to complete QoL questionnaires at 3-month intervals in the first year and yearly thereafter. Follow-up data were available for a maximum of 8 years. We used linear mixed-effect models to investigate changes in QoL subscales (physical functioning [PF], emotional functioning [EF], and QoL summary score [QoL-sum]) over time, and to identify potential demographic and clinical correlates of QoL and QoL trajectories (i.e., interaction with time). Results Data from 278 patients was included. Post-RC EF scores increased from 83.7 (95% confidence interval [CI] 81.7-85.6) to levels comparable to the normative population (90.1) 8 years after RC. PF (post-RC: 82.4, 95% CI 78.5-86.3) and QoL-sum (post-RC: 88.2, 95% CI 85.2-91.2) remained lower compared to the normative population (88.9 and 91.4, respectively) 8 years after RC. Compared to patients with an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score of 1 at diagnosis, those with ASA score 2 or ASA score 3 had significant lower post-RC PF (mean difference (MD) = -8 and -22, respectively; P < 0.001), EF (MD = -1 and -11; P = 0.5 and P < 0.01) and QoL-sum (MD = -2 and -9; P = 0.2 and P < 0.01). In addition, patients with a higher ASA score had a worse QoL-sum trajectory (P-interaction = 0.01). Older patients had a worse PF trajectory (P-interaction < 0.01) but higher post-RC EF (P < 0.01). Conclusions Directly after RC, patients have lower PF, EF and QoL-sum, compared to a normative population. Notably, EF recovers to normative levels over a period of 8 years after RC. Clinicians are encouraged to administer supportive care interventions to enhance the QoL for patients undergoing RC, especially targeting older patients and those with higher ASA scores.