NAC

Bladder cancer is a prevalent malignancy globally, with muscle-invasive disease having a five-year survival rate below 50%. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) before radical cystectomy has shown efficacy for resectable muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). However, non-response to NAC can lead to delayed surgery and unnecessary toxicity. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), particularly multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) with dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), offers functional and quantitative biomarkers that may predict NAC response early in treatment.

Upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) represents a rare yet aggressive malignancy associated with a dismal prognosis. At the point of diagnosis, nearly half of the patients already have invasive disease, and over 70% present with high-grade UTUC. Currently, radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) remains the gold standard of care for high-risk UTUC. Previous investigations have demonstrated that, in contrast to RNU alone, chemotherapy can effectively reduce the disease recurrence rate and mortality. Moreover, it may confer benefits to patients' overall survival (OS) without impeding the implementation of subsequent definitive surgical treatment. However, the majority of these studies are predominantly retrospective analyses. Although they can, to some degree, reflect the clinical value of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, due to inherent limitations in study design and other confounding factors, there is still a paucity of prospective research evidence for further validation. Considering that RNU can cause a decline in renal function in patients, and in light of prospective trial outcomes, preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has emerged as a preferred treatment option for chemotherapy-eligible UTUC patients.