Hyun Yul Rhew

The efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced upper tract urothelial cell carcinoma.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy for locally advanced upper tract urothelial cell carcinoma (UTUC) following radical nephroureterectomy with bladder cuff resection (RNU) in terms of survival and recurrence. Materials and methods: Between January 2000 and January 2013, among 145 patients with upper tract urothelial cell carcinoma, a total of 65 patients with locally advanced UTUC (a diagnosis of pT3 or pT4 or pT1-2N1-3) underwent RNU. Of these 65 patients, 36 patients received at least three cycles of adjuvant gemcitabine plus cisplatin chemotherapy and the remaining 29 patient did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Clinical characteristics, bladder recurrence, distant metastasis, and cancer-specific survival were retrospectively reviewed. Results: The mean age of the 65 patients was 60.4 (range, 37-87) years and the median follow-up period was 34 (range, 12-114) months. Patent demographics were not statistically different between the two groups. During the follow-up period, 14 patients (21.5%) experienced distant metastasis; 8 (8/36, 22.2%) patients who had undergone adjuvant chemotherapy and 6 (6/29, 20.7%) patients who did not. Bladder recurrence was noted in 17 patients (26.2%), 5 (5/36, 13.9%) of whom received adjuvant chemotherapy while the remaining 12 (12/29, 41.4%) did not. Kaplan-Meire and multivariate analysis showed that the incidence of bladder recurrence was significantly higher in patients who did not undergo adjuvant chemotherapy, and cancer specific survival was not significantly associated with adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusions: Adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced UTUC can prevent bladder recurrence, but has a minimal effect on cancer-specific survival.

Nomograms for prediction of disease recurrence in patients with primary Ta, T1 transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

We developed nomograms to predict disease recurrence in patients with Ta, T1 transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Thirty-eight training hospitals participated in this retrospective multicenter study. Between 1998 and 2002, a total of 1,587 patients with newly diagnosed non-muscle invasive bladder cancer were enrolled in this study. Patients with prior histories of bladder cancer, non-transitional cell carcinoma, or a follow-up duration of less than 12 months were excluded. With univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, we constructed nomograms to predict disease recurrence, and internal validation was performed using statistical techniques. Three-year and five-year recurrence-free rates were 64.3% and 55.3%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that age (hazard ratio [HR]=1.437, p<0.001), tumor size (HR=1.328, p=0.001), multiplicity (HR=1.505, p<0.001), tumor grade (HR=1.347, p=0.007), concomitant carcinoma in situ (HR=1.611, p=0.007), and intravesical therapy (HR=0.681, p<0.001) were independent predictors for disease recurrence. Based on these prognostic factors, nomograms for the prediction of disease recurrence were developed. These nomograms can be used to predict the probability of disease recurrence in patients with newly diagnosed Ta, T1 transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. They may be useful for patient counseling, clinical trial design, and patient follow-up planning.

Pilot study of the clinical significance of serum and urinary her-2/neu protein in bladder cancer patients.

Purpose HER-2/neu overexpression is documented in some bladder cancers. To our knowledge, there are no current studies evaluating urine HER-2/neu levels. Therefore, we examined the clinical significance of serum and urine HER-2/neu protein in bladder cancer. Materials and Methods Urothelial bladder carcinoma patients (n=38, including 31 men and 7 women) and healthy controls (n=25, including 20 men and 5 women) were included in the study. Urine cytology and serum and urine HER-2/neu levels were measured before the transurethral resection of bladder tumor procedure. Prognostic factors including tumor stage, histologic grade, tumor size, multiplicity, and preoperative urine cytology and their association with urinary HER-2/neu were analyzed by simple and multiple regression analyses. Results There was no significant difference in serum HER-2/neu between the two groups (p=0.489). The mean urinary HER-2/neu was 7,586.82 relative luminescence unit (RLU) in bladder cancer patients and 4,245.84 RLU in healthy controls. The mean RLU values of urinary HER-2/neu in the bladder cancer patient group were significantly higher than in healthy controls (p=0.012). An receiver operating characteristic curve was generated, and using the cutoff value of ≥4,800 RLU of urinary HER-2/neu, 71.1% sensitivity and 84.0% specificity were obtained. Among the clinical factors, only positive preoperative urine cytology samples were associated with urinary HER-2/neu levels by both simple and multiple regression analyses. Conclusions Bladder cancer patients demonstrated significantly higher urinary HER-2/neu than did healthy controls. These findings suggest that urinary HER-2/neu may be valuable as a new urinary marker. The application of urinary HER-2/neu needs additional investigation.