Pathological stage and grade of renal pelvis urothelial carcinoma (RPUC) are difficult to estimate before radical nephroureterectomy (RNU).
To examine tumor size as an independent predictor of muscle-invasive and/or non-organ-confined rates of RPUC at RNU.
Within the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database (2004-2016), we identified nonmetastatic RPUC at RNU.
First, we examined stage and grade distributions. Second, two separate univariable and subsequent multivariable logistic regression models (LRMs) were fitted to test the association between tumor size and the rate of (1) muscle-invasive or higher (pT2-4N0-2) and (2) non-organ-confined (pT3-4N0-2) RPUC at RNU.
Of 4657 patients, 3052 (65.5%) had pT2-4N0-2 and 2382 (51.2%) pT3-4N0-2 RPUC at RNU. The median tumor size was 3.7 cm (interquartile range 2.5-5.0). The high-grade RPUC rate ranged from 71.1% to 87.2% (p < 0.001) among SEER registries. Conversely, no differences were recorded for stage (p > 0.05) or tumor size (p = 0.1) across all registries. Rates of pT2-4N0-2 and pT3-4N0-2 RPUC increased with tumor size. Specifically, for tumor size intervals from 0.1-1.0 cm to 9.1-10.0 cm, the pT2-4N0-2 rate ranged from 45% to 83% and the pT3-4N0-2 rate ranged from 23% to 75%, respectively (both p < 0.001). In multivariable LRMs, tumor size (in 1-cm units) was an independent predictor of pT2-4N0-2 (odds ratio [OR] 1.25; p < 0.001) and pT3-4N0-2 (OR 1.30; p < 0.001) disease at RNU.
Tumor size is a key predictor of muscle-invasive or non-organ-confined RPUC. Greater tumor size directly and virtually linearly predicts a higher rate of invasive or non-organ-confined RPUC at RNU.
For patients with cancer in urinary tract cells lining the kidney, larger tumor size predicts worse stage of the disease at surgery.
European urology focus. 2021 Mar 15 [Epub ahead of print]
Claudia Collà Ruvolo, Luigi Nocera, L Franziska Stolzenbach, Mike Wenzel, Gianluigi Califano, Zhe Tian, Paolo Verze, Shahrokh F Shariat, Fred Saad, Alberto Briganti, Vincenzo Mirone, Pierre I Karakiewicz
Urology Unit, Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy; Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Canada. Electronic address: ., Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Canada; Department of Urology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy., Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Canada; Martini-Klinik Prostate Cancer Center, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany., Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Canada; Department of Urology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany., Urology Unit, Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy., Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, Division of Urology, University of Montréal Health Center, Montréal, Canada., Urology Unit, Scuola Medica Salernitana Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy., Department of Urology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Urology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; Department of Urology, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, USA; Department of Urology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; Institute for Urology and Reproductive Health, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia; Division of Urology, Department of Special Surgery, Jordan University Hospital, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan., Department of Urology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.