Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of young patients with upper tract urethelial carcinoma

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of the young patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). Methods: The clinical data of 839 UTUC patients receiving radical nephroureterectomy at Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China from September 1999 to September 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into the young (<55 years old, 107 cases) and elderly groups (≥55 years old, 732 cases). After the variables were balanced using propensity score matching, the patients were paired at a 1∶1 ratio. The clinicopathological characteristics and survival rates were compared between the two groups. Results: Compared with the elderly group, the young group had more males (P=0.047), a higher rate of smoking history (P=0.042), a higher rate of renal transplantation history (P<0.01), and fewer symptoms of hematuria (P=0.048). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year cancer specific survival (CSS) rates after surgery were 77.9%, 62.2%, 60.2% and 85.7%, 70.3%, 65.0% in the young and the elderly groups, respectively. The CSS and disease free survival (DFS) of young patients were shorter than those of elderly patients, but the difference was not significant either by subgroup analysis or propensity matching analysis (P>0.05). Young female patients had shorter CSS (P=0.034) and DFS (P=0.046) than elderly females. Perineural invasion (CSS, P=0.002; DFS, P<0.01) and extensive necrosis (CSS, P=0.041; DFS, P=0.001) were the independent risk factors of survival in young patients. Conclusions: Young UTUC patients are different from elderly ones in the frequencies of gender, smoking history, renal transplantation history, and first symptoms. Young female patients have a worse prognosis than elderly female ones. Perineural invasion and extensive necrosis could help clinicians to evaluate the prognosis of young UTUC patients.