CONTEXT: Follow-up of patients treated for bladder cancer (BCa) is of great importance for both non-muscle-invasive BCa (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive BCa (MIBC) because of the high incidence of recurrence and progression. The schedule and methods of follow-up should reflect the individual clinical situation. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the existing evidence for intensity and duration of follow-up recommendations in patients after surgical treatment of BCa. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We searched the Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases for published data on the follow-up of patients with NMIBC and MIBC after radical cystectomy (RC). EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Follow-up in patients with NMIBC is necessary because of the high probability of tumour recurrence and the risk of progression. Cystoscopy plus cytology are the standard methods for follow-up. Cystoscopy should be done 3 mo after the transurethral resection in every patient, and the frequency after that depends on the individual recurrence/progression risk. Cytology should be used as an adjunctive method to cystoscopy in intermediate- and high-risk patients. None of the currently available urinary markers or imaging methods can substitute for cystoscopy-based follow-up. High-risk NMIBC patients require regular lifelong upper urinary tract monitoring. Follow-up in MIBC is based on the fact that early detection of recurrence after RC allows for timely treatment with the aim of improving outcomes. Patients with extravesical and lymph node-positive disease should have the most intensive follow-up because of the highest recurrence risk. Routine upper urinary tract imaging is advisable for all patients and should continue in the long term. Follow-up also allows for early detection of urinary diversion-related complications, the rate of which increases with time. CONCLUSIONS: Follow-up in BCa is necessary for diagnosing recurrence and progression, as well as for evaluating complications after radical treatment. Since randomised studies investigating the most appropriate follow-up schedule are lacking, most recommendations are based on only the retrospective experience. Nonetheless, reasonable recommendations can be made until further prospective randomised studies testing different follow-up schedules have been performed.

Department of Urology General Teaching Hospital and 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University in Praha Praha Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org

Intravesical thermochemotherapy in the treatment of high-risk and very high-risk non-muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer: a single-arm study