Clinical outcome of urachal cancer in Japanese patients

The outcome of treatment of Japanese patients with urachal cancer is not well known. The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics and outcomes of Japanese patients with urachal cancer.

The medical records of patients with urachal cancer who were treated in our hospital between 1994 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed and statistically analyzed.

We found 28 patients who had been diagnosed with urachal cancer and treated in our hospital during the study period. The median age of these patients was 52.3 years [interquartile range (IQR), 46.0-56.8 years]. Seventeen patients underwent surgery in our department. The median observation period of these patients was 42.6 months (IQR, 21.1-49.7 months). Among patients who had undergone surgery, cancer recurred in 7 (41 %). The estimated median time from surgery to recurrence and overall survival (OS) period were 35.8 months [95 % confidence interval (CI), 7.7 months-not determined] and not reached, respectively. Seventeen patients received chemotherapy for metastatic disease. The estimated median OS time from initial metastasis was 23.5 months (95 % CI, 11.8-33.3 months).

Urachal cancer is usually locally advanced at presentation and it has a high risk of distant metastases. However, long-term survival following surgical treatment occurs in a significant fraction of patients. This study indicates the current treatment results for patients with urachal cancer in Japanese clinical practice. To establish a standard operation method and chemotherapy, a multicenter, prospective study is needed in a larger population in the future.