Shortened time to diagnosis for patients suspected of urinary bladder cancer managed in a standardized care pathway was associated with an improvement in tumour characteristics.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether the implementation of standardized care pathway (SCP) for patients with suspected urinary bladder cancer (UBC) was associated with changes in tumour characteristics. Additionally, the study aims to explore whether there was a shift in the selection of patients prioritized for immediate evaluation regarding suspicion of UBC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included all patients diagnosed with UBC in the NU Hospital Group between 2010 and 2019. To evaluate changes associated with SCP, patients were divided into two diagnostic time periods, either before (2010-2015) or during (2016-2019) the implementation of the SCP. To evaluate which patients were prioritized for prompt evaluation within 13 days, logistic regression analysis was performed on all patients before and during SCP.

RESULTS: Median time to transurethral resection of the tumour in urinary bladder (TURBT) decreased from 29 days (interquartile range [IQR] 16-48) before SCP to 12 days (IQR 8-19) during SCP ( p  < 0.001) with a clear break from 2016. The proportion of cT2 + tumours decreased during SCP from 26% to 20% ( p  = 0.035). In addition, tumours detected during SCP were smaller ( p  = 0.023), but with more multiple lesions ( p  = 0.055) and G3 tumours ( p  = 0.007). During SCP, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups of patients with TURBT within or after 13 days. In contrast, before SCP, a majority of the patients treated within 13 days had advanced tumours and were admitted from the emergency ward.

CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of an SCP for suspected UBC was associated with improved tumour characteristics. Interestingly, during SCP, there were no substantial differences in patients' or tumours' characteristics among those who underwent TURBT within or after 13 days. This indicates that the 13-day timeframe for TURBT might be prolonged, especially in less urgent cases in order to facilitate a prioritization of more severe cases with treatable disease.