To investigate the prognostic value of CD68- and CD163-positive macrophages in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC).
This retrospective study enrolled 50 patients (34 men and 16 women) with UTUC who received radical nephroureterectomy (RNU). We evaluated the expression of CD68 and CD163 in the intratumor compartment by immunohistochemistry. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to evaluate overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and bladder recurrence-free survival (BRFS).
High infiltration of CD163-positive macrophages in patients with UTUC was significantly correlated with worse OS, CSS, and RFS (P < .05 for all). Multivariate analysis showed that high infiltration of CD163-positive macrophages was an independent negative prognostic factor of OS and CSS in patients with UTUC who received RNU. Lymphovascular invasion was an independent negative prognostic factor of RFS, and high infiltration of CD68-positive macrophages was an independent positive prognostic factor of BRFS.
This study indicated that high infiltration of CD163-positive macrophages in the intratumor compartment might be a useful prognostic marker for survival in patients with UTUC who receive RNU. Further, high infiltration of CD68-positive macrophages in the intratumoral compartment might be a useful prognostic marker for bladder recurrence in these patients.
Clinical genitourinary cancer. 2023 May 07 [Epub ahead of print]
Yasuyuki Kobayashi, Hiroki Arai, Yuichiro Hamamoto, Kyotaro Yoshida, Shigeki Shimizu, Yumiko Yasuhara, Naotsugu Ichimaru
Department of Urology, Kinki Central Hospital of Mutual Aid Association of Public School Teachers, Itami, Hyogo, Japan. Electronic address: ., Department of Urology, Kinki Central Hospital of Mutual Aid Association of Public School Teachers, Itami, Hyogo, Japan., Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Kinki Central Hospital of Mutual Aid Association of Public School Teachers, Itami, Hyogo, Japan., Department of Clinical Laboratory, Kinki Central Hospital of Mutual Aid Association of Public School Teachers, Itami, Hyogo, Japan., Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Kinki-Chuo Chest Medical Center, Sakai, Osaka, Japan., Department of Pathology, Sakai City Medical Center, Sakai, Osaka, Japan.