title: Prognostic Value of Leptin Receptor Overexpression in Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinomas in Taiwan.
abstract: Leptin and its receptor (LEPR) are key players in the regulation of energy balance and body weight control and act as a growth factor for specific organs in both normal and disease states. However, LEPR accumulation may be involved in carcinogenesis, progression, and metastasis in many cancers. This study evaluated the clinical significance of LEPR expression in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC).
  
  
  
  LEPR expression was examined in 110 tissue samples from patients with UTUC, using immunohistochemistry, and an analysis was performed to identify evidence of association between LEPR expression and different clinicopathologic variables.
  
  
  
  LEPR expression was significantly correlated with patients with increased body mass index (P < .001) and high serum creatinine levels (P = .005). We found, using the log-rank test, that high LEPR expression was associated with poor recurrence-free (P = .009) and cancer-specific survival (P = .001). This finding was supported by our results using Cox regression analysis, which showed that LEPR expression was an independent predictor of poor recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio = 2.55; P = .011) and cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio = 2.26; P = .006).
  
  
  
  Our findings indicate that LEPR expression is a potential biomarker for predicting patient survival in UTUC. Further study is necessary to investigate the role of LEPR in carcinogenesis of UTUC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Chen
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Jeng
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hui-Hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Ministry of Health and Welfare Pingtung Hospital, Pingtung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Ming
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Nung
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Chi
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Microbiology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Lin-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ching-Chia
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-Chih
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan; National Cancer Research Institute, National Health Research Institutes, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chien-Feng
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Urology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Electronic address: hunglungke@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hung-Lung
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Ke
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D054411:Receptors, Leptin / Q000378:metabolism*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013624:Taiwan; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014571:Urologic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C515448:LEPR protein, human; D054411:Receptors, Leptin; D003404:Creatinine
keywords: BMI; Immunohistochemistry (IHC); Obesity; Renal pelvis cancer; Ureter cancer