The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tumor location on oncologic outcomes in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) stratified according to pathologic stage.
Between January 1996 and March 2009, 503 patients with UTUC were enrolled who had undergone radical nephroureterectomies and had no nodal or distal metastases. Preoperative chemotherapy or radiation therapy was not administered to any study patient. Clinicopathologic patient characteristics were obtained and used to analyze recurrence-free survival (RFS), cancer-specific survival, and overall survival with the Cox proportional hazards model.
During the median follow-up of 52 months, patients with pathologic tumor (pT) stage 3 ureteral tumors had a shorter duration of RFS compared with those with pT3 renal pelvis tumors (5-y RFS: 50% and 71%, P = 0. 047). There was no prognostic relevance to the tumor location in pTa/Tis/T1 and pT2 diseases. RFS and cancer-specific survival were significantly shorter in duration in pT3 ureteral disease compared with pT2 diseases (P
Patients with UTUC and pT3 ureteral tumors had an increased risk of disease recurrence and cancer-specific death. These results underscore the need for close follow-up and the consideration of adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with pT3 ureteral cancer.
Urologic oncology. 2015 Sep 05 [Epub ahead of print]
Yi-Sheng Tai, Chung-Hsin Chen, Chao-Yuan Huang, Huai-Chin Tai, Sho-Mon Wang, Yeong-Shiau Pu
Department of Urology, National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch, Yun-Lin, Taiwan. , Department of Urology, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. Department of Urology, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. , Department of Urology, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. , Department of Urology, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. , Department of Urology, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.