Protocol of the Italian Radical Cystectomy Registry

Background: Bladder cancer is the ninth most common type of cancer worldwide. In the past, Radical Cystectomy via open surgery has been considered the gold-standard treatment for muscle invasive bladder cancer. However, in recent years there has been a progressive increase in the use of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy surgery. The aim of the current project is to investigate the surgical, oncological, and functional outcomes of patients with bladder cancer who undergo radical cystectomy surgery comparing three different surgical techniques (robotic-assisted, laparoscopic, and open surgery). Pre-, peri- and post-operative factors will be examined, and participants will be followed for a period of up to 24 months to identify risks of mortality, oncological outcomes, hospital readmission, sexual performance, and continence. Methods: The study is an observational, prospective, multicenter, cohort study to assess patients affected by bladder neoplasms undergoing radical cystectomy and urinary diversion. The Italian Radical Cystectomy Registry is an electronic registry to prospectively collect the data of patients undergoing Radical Cystectomy conducted with any technique (open, laparoscopic, robotic-assisted). Twenty-eight urology departments across Italy will provide data for the study, with recruitment phase between 1st January 2017-31st June 2020). Information is collected from the patients at the moment of surgical intervention and during follow-up (3, 6, 12, and 24 months after radical cystectomy surgery). Peri-operative variables include surgery time, type of urinary diversion, conversion to open surgery, bleeding, nerves sparing and lymphadenectomy. Follow-up data collection includes histological information (e.g., post-op staging, grading and tumor histology), short- and long-term outcomes (e.g., mortality, post-op complications, hospital readmission, sexual potency, continence etc). Discussion: The current protocol aims to contribute additional