Prognostic effect of preoperative anemia in patients who have undergone radical cystectomy for bladder cancer

Objective

In this study, we aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of preoperative anemia in bladder cancer patients who have undergone radical cystectomy.

Materials and methods

Data of 148 patients were collected, who underwent radical cystectomy with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy for bladder cancer. Preoperative hemoglobin levels of these patients were measured and then classified as normal or anemia. Hemoglobin threshold value of the patients in the study was taken as the average of all patients. The results were assessed by using the univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results

The mean preoperative hemoglobin value was 12.2 g/dl (6.9–16). With reference to the specified threshold hemoglobin value (12.2 g/dl), 70 patients were anemic. Cancer-specific survival was found significantly lower in patients with low preoperative hemoglobin value, as determined by univariate analysis. After an average follow-up period of 21.1 months, anemia was found to be associated with decreased cancer-specific survival. Low preoperative hemoglobin value is an independent risk factor for shorter cancer-specific survival.

Conclusion

Preoperative anemia is an independent risk factor for cancer-specific survival. This is associated with aggressive tumor structure of patients with bladder cancer who underwent radical cystectomy. Hemoglobin value is an important marker that can be used to determine the prognosis in these patients.