Female Gender Is an Age-dependent Negative Prognostic Factor for Patients with Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma

To analyze female gender as a possible age-dependent prognostic factor for overall (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UUTUC) after radical nephroureterectomy (RNU).

A total of 167 men and 101 women with UUTUC treated with RNU with bladder cuff resection at our clinic were retrospectively analyzed. Female patients were divided into pre- and post-menopausal groups and compared against male patients of the same age. We used a cut-off age of 59 years or more as a surrogate for the post-menopausal hormonal status of women. Kaplan-Meier analyses and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to analyze gender as a possible prognostic factor of OS and CSS.

Women aged 59 years or more had a significantly worse CSS with an average of 231 months after RNU compared to 303 months for their male counterparts (p=0.011). Univariate Cox regression analysis showed a 2.44-fold higher risk of death (p=0.013), while multivariate analyses, adjusted for tumor stage and tumor grade, showed a 2.92-fold higher risk (p=0.011) of cancer-specific death for women aged 59 years or more.

Female gender is an age-dependent prognostic factor for CSS for patients with UUTUC treated with RNU.