To determine if delaying the initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy following radical cystectomy for locally advanced bladder cancer worsens overall survival.

This is a retrospective cohort study utilizing the National Cancer Database from 2006 to 2013. We included treatment-naïve patients who underwent radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer found to have locally advanced disease (pT3-T4 and/or pN+). Patients received no chemotherapy or multiagent adjuvant chemotherapy between 30 and 180 days following surgery. We used a multivariable Cox Regression to assess for differences in overall survival according to when patients initiated adjuvant chemotherapy.

We identified 3590 patients: 2581 received no chemotherapy and 1009 received multiagent adjuvant chemotherapy. Adjuvant chemotherapy began 31-60 days postsurgery in 538 patients, 61-90 days in 321 patients, and 91-180 days in 150 patients. Relative to patients who did not receive chemotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy decreased mortality when started 31-60 days (hazard ratio [HR], 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-0.69; P <.001), 61-90 days (HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.53-0.74; P <.001), and 91-180 days following radical cystectomy (HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.55-0.87; P = .002).

Adjuvant chemotherapy offers a survival benefit when started up to 6 months after radical cystectomy in patients with high-risk disease who did not receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Patients who require delayed initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy can still benefit from treatment.