Abstract 1761P
Background
Upper tract urothelial carcinomas (UTUCs) arise in the renal pelvis or the ureter, accounting for approximately 5% of all urothelial carcinomas. Recent years have witnessed the publication of several studies aimed at assessing the molecular, biological, and clinical features of UTUC, reporting that FGFR3 mutations are the most observed genetic aberrations; however, several knowledge gaps persist in the understanding of the genomic landscape of this genitourinary malignancy with few treatment options.
Methods
In the current study, we aimed to comprehensively analyze clinicopathological features of FGFR3-mutated UTUCs patients in public datasets to increase the current knowledge on the molecular and biological profile of UTUC. Data regarding clinical outcomes, mutational profiles, and copy number alterations in patients affected by UTUC were downloaded from the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics Database. UTUC data were available from four studies, for a total number of 358 patients; among these, 150 UTUC patients presented FGFR3 mutations.
Results
Survival analysis was performed on FGFR3-mutated and FGFR3 wild type patients for whom overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were available and which were previously treated with radical nephroureterectomy (RNU). FGFR3 mutations were identified as a favorable prognostic factor; median OS in FGFR3-mutated patients was not reached, while it was 53.61 months (35.8 – Not Reached) in FGFR3 wild type UTUC patients receiving RNU (p=0.017). No statistically significant differences in DFS were observed between the two groups of patients receiving radical surgery, with median DFS of 7.2 months (4.4 – 31.5) and 9.1 (6.2 – 21.8) months in FGFR3-mutated and FGFR3 wild type UTUC patients, respectively (p=0.9). In addition, FGFR3 mutations were more frequent in low-grade UTUCs with early-stage disease (pT1, pT2, and pT3).
Conclusions
Despite the limitations affecting our study, this large-scale database analysis may support the design of appropriate prospective clinical trials and preclinical models to develop novel pharmacological approaches for UTUC patients. More efforts aimed at implementing UTUC genomics analysis are warranted.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.