Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is a relatively rare type of urothelial carcinoma. Additionally, only few reports have examined the sex differences in patients with UTUC. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the sex factors affecting renal function in patients with UTUC who underwent radical nephroureterectomy (RNU).
Patients who underwent RNU for non-metastatic UTUC between 2000 and 2013 were retrospectively reviewed and divided into two groups by sex. The Kaplan-Meier method was applied to evaluate the effects of sex on survival, whereas for the other clinicopathological parameters, hazard ratios were evaluated using the Cox regression model. The analyses were also performed in patients with different chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages.
A total of 368 patients were included, 147 men and 221 women. Female patients had a higher rate of anemia, advanced CKD stage, and dialysis. Male patients predominantly had a higher rate of smoking. The Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed no differences between sexes on recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Multivariate analysis confirmed that ureteral tumors, advanced pathological tumor stage, and adjuvant chemotherapy indicated significantly worse survival outcomes in both sexes. However, only female patients with advanced CKD showed poorer RFS. After adjusting for renal function, the analysis found men had worse RFS.
The female sex is significantly associated with a higher prevalence of advanced CKD stage, and dialysis among patients with UTUC who underwent RNU in our institute. Sex differences in renal function needs to be considered when evaluating survival.
Journal of the Formosan Medical Association = Taiwan yi zhi. 2022 Mar 31 [Epub ahead of print]
Tsu-Ming Chien, Ching-Chia Li, Yen-Man Lu, Hsueh-Wei Chang, Yii-Her Chou, Wen-Jeng Wu
Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan., Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan., Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan., Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, College of Life Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan; Cancer Center, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan; Center for Cancer Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan., Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan. Electronic address: ., Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan. Electronic address: .