Prognostic role of decreased E-cadherin expression in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma: a multi-institutional study. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • PURPOSE: To assess the role of E-cadherin as prognostic biomarker in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) in a large multi-institutional cohort of patients. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry technique was used to evaluate E-cadherin expression in 678 patients with unilateral, sporadic UTUC treated with RNU. E-cadherin expression was considered decreased if 10 % or more cells had decreased expression (<90 %). RESULTS: Decreased E-cadherin expression was observed in 353 patients (52.1 %) and was associated with advanced pathological stage (P < 0.001), higher grade (P < 0.001), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.006), lymphovascular invasion (P < 0.001), concomitant carcinoma in situ (P < 0.001), multifocality (P = 0.004), tumor necrosis (P = 0.020) and sessile architecture (P < 0.001). Within a median follow-up of 30 months (interquartile range 15-57), 171 patients (25.4 %) experienced disease recurrence and 150 (21.9 %) died from UTUC. In univariable analyses, decreased E-cadherin expression was significantly associated with worse recurrence-free survival (P < 0.001) and cancer-specific survival CSS (P = 0.006); however, in multivariable analyses, it was not (P = 0.74 and 0.84, respectively). The lack of independent prognostic value of E-cadherin remained true in all subgroup analyses. CONCLUSION: In UTUC patients treated with RNU, decreased E-cadherin expression is associated with features of biologically and clinically aggressive disease and worse outcome in univariable, but not multivariable, analyses. If E-cadherin's association with factors of advanced disease is confirmed on UTUC biopsy specimens, it could be used to help in the clinical decision-making regarding kidney-sparing approaches and/or neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.

publication date

  • April 29, 2016

Research

keywords

  • Cadherins
  • Carcinoma in Situ
  • Carcinoma, Transitional Cell
  • Kidney Neoplasms
  • Neoplasms, Multiple Primary
  • Ureteral Neoplasms

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC5233747

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84964580512

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/S1470-2045(07)70002-5

PubMed ID

  • 27129576

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 35

issue

  • 1