Swedish national guidelines on urothelial carcinoma: 2024 update on advanced and metastatic disease.

Abstract

Objective: To overview and summarise the Swedish National Guidelines on Urothelial Carcinoma 2024.

Methods: A narrative review of the updated guidelines was performed, highlighting new treatment recommendations for advanced and metastasized disease.  Results: Compared to the previous guideline version, the current update includes recommendations for standardised radiological reporting when urothelial carcinomas are detected at CT-urography (CTU), to early identify locally advanced patients and accelerate the care pathway for these patients. The Swedish guidelines apply a more structured and liberal recommendation for the use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with locally advanced urothelial carcinomas compared to the EAU-guidelines and recommend such examinations prior to transurethral resection. Improved outcomes for radical cystectomy in Sweden after centralised cystectomy care have led to a recommendation for performing more than six nephroureterectomies (NUs) per year for upper tract urothelial carcinomas (UTUC)-based associations with decreased use of invasive diagnostic modalities and better survival outcomes. Additionally, updated recommendations regarding adjuvant systemic therapies for muscle-invasive disease have been included. Whilst awaiting national regulatory approval for enfortumab vedotin/pembrolizumab, the present guideline version aligns with EAU-guidelines by endorsing cisplatin-gemcitabine-nivolumab as a new first-line treatment option in cisplatin-fit patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Conclusions: The current version of the Swedish national guidelines on urothelial carcinoma introduces standardised reporting at CTU to facilitate early identification of advanced disease, includes recommendations for centralisation of NU for UTUC and updated recommendations for adjuvant systemic treatment of muscle-invasive disease and endorses cisplatin-gemcitabine-nivolumab as a new first-line treatment option for non-resectable locally advanced and metastatic disease.