CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT00963859Updated May 21, 2013Results posted

Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Extended Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection for Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder

A Phase 2 interventional study of Robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery in Bladder Cancer, sponsored by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Completed at 1 site in United States. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2013-05-21.

Sponsored by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
11
Allocation
Not applicable
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical research study is to evaluate how many lymph nodes are left behind after robotic-assisted removal and are then found after a wider incision is made, in patients who are having their bladder removed for the treatment of bladder cancer.

The primary objective is to compare the lymph node yield achieved by performing a robotic-assisted laparoscopic extended pelvic lymph node dissection (RA-PLND) compared to a second-look open lymph node dissection (O-PLND) among patients undergoing radical cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

The secondary objectives will be to collect prospective outcomes data related to the performance of RA-PLND and robotic-assisted cystectomy (RA-C) including operative times, estimated blood loss, transfusions, complications, return to diet, utilization of pain medication, hospital length, return to regular activities.

Read the detailed description

Study Background:

Research has shown that the more lymph nodes removed as part of a radical cystectomy (bladder removal) for invasive bladder cancer, the better. However, the number of lymph nodes removed varies from person to person. The standard surgical techniques such as robot-assisted procedures are new, and researchers want to be able to more reliably tell if the specific number of lymph nodes removed is enough to be considered a "complete" removal.

In this study, researchers will remove the required lymph nodes using a standard robotic-assisted procedure, and then remove any additional lymph nodes that remain and need to be removed, using a wider ("open") incision in the abdomen. This open technique is also being done for standard of care. It is needed in order to complete the "urinary diversion" part of the surgery (a procedure of surgically making way for urine to pass out of the body so that it does not go through the bladder).

The main goal of the study is to see if the robotic-assisted procedure removes all of the required lymph nodes. The open technique will allow researchers to evaluate how many lymph nodes were left behind after robotic-assisted removal.

It is possible that the machine may have problems and not be available for use on the scheduled day of surgery. If that happens, you will have the option to reschedule surgery or have standard open surgery. It is also possible that the machine could have problems during your surgery. If that happens, your doctor will continue with standard open surgery. Your study doctor will discuss these possible situations with you.

You will be asked to sign a separate consent form for these surgical procedures, which will describe the procedures and their risks in more detail.

Follow-up:

You will be asked to fill out a brief pain survey once a week for 7 weeks after surgery. The survey will take about 5 minutes to complete. You will also be given a diary to record your daily pain medication use. It will also take about 5 minutes to complete. You will continue to complete the questionnaire once a week and to fill out the diary daily for 6 weeks.

End-of-Study Visit:

You will visit the clinic 6-12 weeks after surgery for an end-of-study visit. You will have a chest x-ray. Your pain medication use and pain level surveys will be collected. After this visit, you will be off-study.

This is an investigational study. The robotic-assisted bladder removal is FDA approved for this purpose. Up to 60 patients will be enrolled in this study. All will be enrolled at The University of Texas (UT) MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC).

02

Conditions studied

  • Bladder Cancer

Keywords

  • Robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery
  • Extended pelvic lymph node dissection
  • RA-PLND
  • Second-look open lymph node dissection
  • O-PLND
  • Radical Cystectomy
  • Urinary diversion
  • Bladder
03

In context

Urinary Bladder Neoplasms

1,616 studies on the registry are indexed under Urinary Bladder Neoplasms; 421 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 11 is below the median of 60 across 1,163 interventional studies indexed under Urinary Bladder Neoplasms.

Browse Urinary Bladder Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is the lead sponsor of 2,999 studies on the registry; 581 are open to participants now.

Of its 599 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 402 (67%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patients who are eligible for a radical cystectomy and who, in the opinion of the treating MDACC physician, are candidates for a robotic-assisted laparoscopic technique for management of the bladder and lymph nodes.
  2. Diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.
  3. Medical fitness for open radical cystectomy by consensus of MDACC urology and anesthesia faculty (medicine/cardiology clearance by common best practice criteria).
  4. Staging inclusion by cystoscopic biopsy and bimanual examination under anesthesia: carcinoma in-situ, T1, T2.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Prior pelvic radiation.
  2. Morbid obesity, i.e., body mass index (BMI)> 35.
  3. Metastatic disease, bulky disease--T3a/b, prostatic stromal invasion.
  4. Non-transitional cell histology.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
11 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery

    Robotic-assisted laparoscopic extended pelvic lymph node dissection

    Procedure: Robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery

Interventions

  • ProcedureRobotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery

    During radical cystectomy, robotic-assisted technique used to perform cystectomy and pelvic lymph node dissections. Each patient will undergo a second-look open lymph node dissection once the incision is made at the end for the urinary diversion.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Median Yield of Robot Assisted and Second Look Open Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection to Compare the Lymph Node Yield Achieved

    The median yield (the lymph node count) allows for comparison of how many lymph nodes are left behind after robotic-assisted removal and are then found after a wider incision is made. Specifically a robot-assisted laparoscopic extended pelvic lymph node dissection (RA-PLND) is compared to a second-look open lymph node dissection (O-PLND) among participants undergoing radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. The median yield lymph nodes illustrate the adequacy of extended pelvic lymph node dissection using a robotic-assisted technique, i.e. whether the robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy yields a sufficient number of lymph nodes to be oncologically equivalent to the open procedure.

    Time frame: 3 months including surgery and post-operative period.

  2. Overall Percentage Median Yield

    The median yield (the lymph node count) allows for comparison of how many lymph nodes are left behind after robotic-assisted removal and are then found after a wider incision is made. Specifically a robot-assisted laparoscopic extended pelvic lymph node dissection (RA-PLND) is compared to a second-look open lymph node dissection (O-PLND) among participants undergoing radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. The median yield lymph nodes illustrates the adequacy of extended pelvic lymph node dissection using a robotic-assisted technique.

    Time frame: 3 months including surgery and post-operative period.

07

Results

Posted May 21, 2013

Participant flow

Recruitment Period: October 10, 2007 to December 07, 2009; All recruitment done in a medical clinic setting.

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneRobotic-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery
Started11
Completed11
Not completed0

Outcome measures

PrimaryMedian Yield of Robot Assisted and Second Look Open Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection to Compare the Lymph Node Yield Achieved

The median yield (the lymph node count) allows for comparison of how many lymph nodes are left behind after robotic-assisted removal and are then found after a wider incision is made. Specifically a robot-assisted laparoscopic extended pelvic lymph node dissection (RA-PLND) is compared to a second-look open lymph node dissection (O-PLND) among participants undergoing radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. The median yield lymph nodes illustrate the adequacy of extended pelvic lymph node dissection using a robotic-assisted technique, i.e. whether the robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy yields a sufficient number of lymph nodes to be oncologically equivalent to the open procedure.

Time frame:
3 months including surgery and post-operative period.
Reported as:
Median · Nodes (Node Yield)
Median Yield of Robot Assisted and Second Look Open Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection to Compare the Lymph Node Yield Achieved
Nodes (Node Yield)Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery
RA-PLND43 (19 to 63)
O-PLND4 (0 to 8)
PrimaryOverall Percentage Median Yield

The median yield (the lymph node count) allows for comparison of how many lymph nodes are left behind after robotic-assisted removal and are then found after a wider incision is made. Specifically a robot-assisted laparoscopic extended pelvic lymph node dissection (RA-PLND) is compared to a second-look open lymph node dissection (O-PLND) among participants undergoing radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. The median yield lymph nodes illustrates the adequacy of extended pelvic lymph node dissection using a robotic-assisted technique.

Time frame:
3 months including surgery and post-operative period.
Reported as:
Number · Percentage of Nodes (Node Yield)
Overall Percentage Median Yield
Percentage of Nodes (Node Yield)Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery
RA-PLND93
O-PLND7

Adverse events

Collected over 20 months. Non-serious events are listed at a 5% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery—1/11 (9.1%)2/11 (18.2%)
Most frequent serious events
Most frequent serious events
EventRobotic-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery
Bowel LeakSurgical and medical procedures1/11
DeathRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders1/11
Most frequent other events
Most frequent other events
EventRobotic-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery
IleusGastrointestinal disorders2/11

Baseline characteristics

Age Continuous
Age Continuous(years)Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery
Median73 (40 to 82)
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery
Female0
Male11
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Surgery
United States11
08

Study locations

1 site
  • UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
    Houston, Texas 77030, United States
09

References and documents

Publications

  • Davis JW, Gaston K, Anderson R, Dinney CP, Grossman HB, Munsell MF, Kamat AM. Robot assisted extended pelvic lymphadenectomy at radical cystectomy: lymph node yield compared with second look open dissection. J Urol. 2011 Jan;185(1):79-83. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2010.09.031. Epub 2010 Nov 12. PubMed 21074799 ↗
10

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 21, 2013, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
11

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00963859
Lead sponsor
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Aug 24, 2009
Start date
Oct 2007
Primary completion
Jun 2011
Completion
Jun 2011
Results posted
May 21, 2013
Last update
May 21, 2013

Study contacts

John W. Davis, MD
study chair · UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2013. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion