title: Independent predictors of cancer-specific survival in transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract: multi-institutional dataset from 3 European centers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of the current study was to identify variables that were predictive of cancer-specific survival in patients with nonmetastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UUT-TCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical and pathologic data from 269 patients who underwent nephroureterectomy for UUT-TCC from 1989 to 2005 in 3 urologic European centers were collected retrospectively. Log-rank tests and Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used for univariate and multivariate analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred fifty patients underwent nephroureterectomy, and 19 patients underwent concomitant cystectomy for synchronous muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The median follow-up of the whole cohort was 34 months, and the median follow-up of the patients who remained alive and disease-free was 52 months. At follow-up, 57 cancer-related deaths (21.2%) were censored, and 169 patients (62.8%) were alive and disease-free. On univariate analysis, a history of previous bladder cancer, pathologic stage of the primary tumor and lymph nodes, tumor grade, the presence of lymphovascular invasion, tumor site, synchronous muscle-invasive bladder TCC, and tumor multifocality were associated with cancer-specific survival probabilities. On multivariate analysis, pathologic stage of the primary tumor and lymph nodes, tumor multifocality within the UUT, synchronous muscle-invasive bladder TCC, and a history of bladder TCC before the diagnosis of UUT-TCC were independent predictors of cancer-specific survival probabilities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a multi-institutional dataset of patients who had undergone nephroureterectomy for UUT-TCC, the current results indicated that pathologic stage of the primary tumor and lymph nodes, a history of prior bladder TCC, the presence of synchronous muscle-invasive bladder cancer, and tumor multifocality within the UUT were independent predictors of cancer-specific survival probabilities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncological and Surgical Sciences, Urology Clinic, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Novara
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Marco
authors.forename: Fedra
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gottardo
authors.forename: Orietta
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dalpiaz
authors.forename: Vianney
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bouygues
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galfano
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martignoni
authors.forename: Jean Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Patard
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Artibani
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ficarra
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016208:Databases, Factual; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D019042:Muscle Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015996:Survival Rate; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery