Arthur I. Sagalowsky

Background, context and purpose: In spite of the mixed evidence for their impact, survivorship Care Plans (SCPs) are recommended to enhance quality of care for cancer survivors. Data on the feasibility of SCPs in bladder cancer (BC) is sparse. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study describes the iterative development, acceptability and feasibility of BC specific SCP (BC-SCP) in clinical settings. Methods: In Phase I, we developed the BC-SCP. In Phase II, we conducted four focus groups with 19 patients and 15 providers to examine its acceptability and usability challenges. Data analyses using the Atlas.ti program, informed refinement of the BC-SCP. In Phase III, we conducted feasibility testing of the refined BC-SCP with 18 providers from 12 health-centers. An encounter survey was completed after each assessment to examine the feasibility of the BC-SCP. Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests were used for comparative analyses. Results: During phase I, we observed high patient and provider acceptability of the BC-SCP and substantial engagement in improving its content, design, and structure. In Phase II, providers completed 59 BC-SCPs. Mean time for BC-SCP completion was 12.3 min. Providers reported that BC-SCP content was clear, did not hamper clinic flow and was readily completed with easy-to-access information. Comparative analyses to examine differences in SCP completion time by patient clinico-demographic characteristics and provider type revealed no significant differences. Conclusions: Our BC-SCP has clinical relevance, and can be used in an active practice setting. However, considerable progress will be necessary to achieve implementation of and sharing the BC-SCP with patients and care providers, particularly within the electronic medical record. In summary, BC-SCPs are essential to improve the follow up care of BC survivors. Clinical resources are required to ensure appropriate implementation of BC-SCPs. Trial registration: Study HUM00056082.

Hyponatremia has been shown to be associated with prognosis in various cancers, but its role in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is largely unidentified. We created an international multiregional cohort of UTUC, consisting of 524 and 213 patients from Taiwan and the U.S., to validate the significance of hyponatremia. Clinicopathologic characteristics were compared according to the presence of hyponatremia. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were used to investigate the association of hyponatremia with disease progression and survival. The impact of hyponatremia in patients from distinct regions was also analyzed. Hyponatremia was found in 143 (19.4%) patients. Hyponatremic patients had significantly worse Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (p = 0.00001) and higher pT stage (p = 0.002). In multivariate analysis, hyponatremia was an independent prognostic factor for progression (HR 1.585, 95% CI 1.115–2.253, p = 0.010), cancer-specific death (HR 2.225, 95% CI 1.457–3.397, p = 0.0002), and overall mortality (HR 1.819, 95% CI 1.299–2.545, p = 0.0005). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed the consistent adverse effect of hyponatremia on all outcomes in patients from Taiwan and the U.S. (all p < 0.05). Hyponatremia is commonly accessible and can serve as a negative marker for both the general health condition and disease severity of UTUC patients. A similar implication of hyponatremia in progression and survival despite patients’ region of presentation suggests its general applicability across different ethnicities.

358 Background: To investigate the prognostic value of PD-1 and PD-L1 expression in patients with high-grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). Methods: Tissue microarrays were created using 448 patients from the International UTUC collaboration who underwent extirpative surgery for high-grade UTUC and stained for PD-1 (antibody (AB): NAT105, diluted 1:250 from Ventana) and PD-L1 (AB: E1L3N prediluted from Cell Signaling). PD-1 and PD-L1 expression was assessed in a semi-quantitative fashion and any percentage of staining of the tumor cells (PD-L1) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (PD-1) was considered positive. Univariate (UVA) and multivariate analyses (MVA) were performed to assess independent prognosticators of oncological outcomes. No funding was received. Results: Median age of the cohort was 69.2 years and 56.5% of patients were male. PD-L1 and PD-1 were positive in 24.1% and 37.5% of patients. PD-L1 positivity was associated with favorable pathological stage, where as PD-1 positivity was significantly associated with pelvicalyceal location, lymph node metastases, non-organ confined disease, presence of lymphovascular invasion, sessile architecture, necrosis, concomitant CIS, and history of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. PD-L1 positivity was not significantly associated with survival outcomes. In Cox regression UVA, PD-1 positivity was associated with worse recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR 1.5 (95%CI 1.08-2.14, p=0.016)), cancer-specific survival (CSS) (HR 1.5 (95%CI 1.07-2.19, p=0.021)), and overall survival (OS) (HR 1.5 (95%CI 1.10-1.97, p=0.009)). However in MVA, PD-1 positivity was not found to be an independent predictor of RFS, CSS or OS. Conclusions: PD-1 positivity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was associated with adverse pathological criteria and was a significant prognosticator for RFS, CSS and OS on UVA in patients treated with extirpative surgery for high-grade UTUC in a large, multi-institutional cohort. In MVA, the independent prognostic value of PD-1 was not confirmed. PD-L1 positivity was associated with lower tumor stage, but not with other pathological characteristics or survival outcomes.

The management of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with venous tumor thrombus (VTT) is challenging. We report our 15 year experience in the management of patients with RCC with VTT utilizing a multidisciplinary team approach, highlighting improved total and specifically Clavien III-V complication rates. We reviewed the records of 146 consecutive patients who underwent radical nephrectomy with venous thrombectomy between 1998 and 2012. Data on patient history, staging, surgical techniques, morbidity, and survival were analyzed. Additionally, complication rates between two surgical eras, 1998–2006 and 2006–2012, were assessed. The study included 146 patients, 97 males (66 %), and a median age of 61 years (range, 24–83). Overall complications rate was 53 %, high grade complications (Clavien III -V) occurred in 10 % of patients. Most importantly, there was a lower incidence of overall and high grade complications (45 % and 8 %, respectively) in the last 6 years compared to the earlier surgeries included in the study (67 % and 13 % respectively) [p = .008 and .03, respectively). 30 day postoperative mortality was 2.7 %. 5 year overall survival (5Y- OS) and 5 year cancer specific survival (5Y- CSS) were 51 % and 40 %, respectively. Metastasis was the only independent predictor factor for CSS (HR 3.8, CI 1.9-7.6 and p < .001) and OS (HR 2.6, CI 1.5-4.7 and p = .001) in all patients. Our data suggest that patients with RCC and VTT can be treated safely utilizing a multidisciplinary team approach leading to a decrease in complication rates.

456 Background: Chemotherapy is still underutilized in management of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). We created pre and post-operative predictive tools combining independent prognostics to guide selection of patients for neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: From the UTUC collaboration database (1,453 patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy [RNU] at 13 academic institutions); a preoperative predictive model was created using 659 patients in whom all preoperative prognostic variables were available and a post-operative model was created using 586 patients with non-metastatic/ high-grade UTU. After multivariable survival analyses, a backward step-down selection process was applied to create a preoperative nomogram. Internal validation was performed using 200 bootstrap resamples. For the postoperative model, TALL score was created based on the sum of the independent prognostic variables. Results: Preoperative model: Grade, architecture and location of the tumor were independently associated with nonorgan confined disease. A nomogram including these 3 variables achieved 76.6% accuracy in predicting nonorgan confined upper tract urothelial cancer. Postoperative model: TALL score (1-7) was the sum of T ( ≤ T1 = 1, T2 = 2, T3 = 3 and T4 = 4), A (papillary = 0 and sessile = 1), LVI (absent = 0 and present = 1) and L (lymphadenectomy = 0 and no lymphadenectomy = 1). Five-year disease-free survival (DFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were stratified into four risk categories according to the TALL score: low (TALL 0-2; 86 % DFS and 90 % CSS), intermediate (TALL = 3; 71 % DFS and 75 % CSS), high (TALL = 4; 57 % DFS and 58 % CSS) and very high risk (TALL ≥ 5; 34 % DFS and 38 % CSS) using Kaplan-Meier survival analyses. TALL score was externally validated in a single-center cohort of 85 UTUC patients. Conclusions: We developed validated multivariable prognostic tools for prediction of locally advanced UTUC and oncological outcomes after RNU for UTUC. These prediction models can be used for patient counseling, selection for neoadjuvant/adjuvant systemic therapies and design of clinical trials.

To assess pathological correlations and temporal trends of Angiopoietin-2 (ANGPT2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and M2 Pyruvate kinase (TuM2PK), markers of tumor vascular development and metabolism, in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). We prospectively collected plasma samples from 89 patients who underwent surgical/ablative therapy for RCC and 38 patients with benign disease (nephrolithiasis, hematuria without apparent neoplastic origin, or renal cysts). In RCC patients, marker levels were compared between at least 1 preoperative and 1 postoperative time point generally 3 weeks after surgery. Marker temporal trends were assessed using the Wilcoxon sign-rank test. Plasma VEGF, ANGPT2, and TuM2PK levels were determined by ELISA and tested for association with pathological variables. Median age was comparable between groups. 83/89 (93%) of the cohort underwent surgical extirpation. 82% of the tumors were organ confined (T ≤2, N0). Only ANGPT2 exhibited significantly elevated preoperative levels in patients with RCC compared to benign disease (p = 0.046). Elevated preoperative levels of ANGPT2 and TuM2PK significantly correlated with increased tumor size and advanced grade (p < 0.05). Chromophobe RCC exhibited higher levels of ANGPT2 compared to other histologies (p < 0.05). A decline in marker level after surgery was not observed, likely due to the timing of the analyses. Our results suggest that ANGPT2 is a marker of RCC. Additionally, ANGPT2 and TuM2PK significantly correlated with several adverse pathological features. Further studies are needed to determine clinical applicability.

371 Background: To validate the independent predictive value of Ki-67 in patients with high-grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). Methods: 475 patients from the international UTUC collaboration who underwent extirpative surgery for high-grade UTUC were included in this study. Immunohistochemical staining for Ki-67 was performed on tissue microarray (TMA) formed from this patient cohort. Ki-67 expression was assessed in a semi-quantitative fashion and considered overexpressed at a cut-off of 20%. Multivariate analyses (MVA) were performed to assess independent predictors of oncological outcomes and Harrell’s C indices (HCI) were calculated for predictive models. Results: Median age of the cohort was 69.7 years and 55.2% of patients were male. Ki-67 was overexpressed in 25.9% of patients. Ki-67 overexpression was significantly associated with ureteral tumor location, higher pT-stage, lymphovascular invasion, sessile tumor architecture, tumor necrosis, concomitant carcinoma in situ (CIS), and regional lymph node metastases. In Kaplan-Meier analyses, overexpressed Ki-67 was associated with worse recurrence-free (RFS) (HR 12.6, p<0.001) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) (HR 15.8, p<0.001). In MVA, Ki-67 was an independent predictor of RFS (HR 1.6, 95% CI 1.07-2.30, p=0.021) and CSS (HR 1.9, 95% CI 1.29-2.90, p=0.001). Ki-67 improved HCI from 0.66 to 0.70 (p<0.0001) for both RFS and CSS in our preoperative model, and from 0.81 to 0.82 (p=0.0018) for RFS and 0.81 to 0.83 (p=0.005) for CSS in our post-operative model. Conclusions: Ki-67 was validated as an independent prognostic predictor of RFS and CSS in patients treated with extirpative surgery for high-grade UTUC in a large, multi-institutional cohort.

525 Background: There have been multiple reports implicating the role of hydronephrosis (HN) as a predictor of outcome in patients diagnosed with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). However, this was done in mixed populations (low-/high-grade) and degree of HN (DOH) was not taken into account. We evaluated the impact of severity of hydronephrosis on systemic and bladder relapse in patients with UTUC. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 141 patients with localized UTUC that underwent extirpative surgery. Preoperative imaging was used to evaluate ipsilateral DOH. We analyzed the association between DOH (none/mild vs. moderate/severe), pathological findings and oncological outcomes in high-grade vs. low-grade patients. Bladder recurrence was assessed separately from local or systemic (L/S) recurrence. Results: High-grade UTUC was present in 80% of patients, 35% had muscle-invasive disease (≥pT2), and 29% had non-organ-confined disease. At a median follow-up of 34 months (range, 1-149), 35% of patients experienced intravesical recurrence, 20% developed L/S recurrence, and 17% died of UTUC. No difference in outcomes was seen between patients without HN and mild HN. DOH was none/mild in 55% and moderate/severe in 45% of cases. In patients with high-grade UTUC, moderate/severe HN was associated with advanced pathologic stage (p

493 Background: Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is thought to play a crucial role in cancer progression and development of metastasis. Thus, we evaluated dysregulation of beta-catenin as a part of EMT and its clinical implications in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was performed for beta-catenin on tissue microarrays of patients with ccRCC. Membranous and cytoplasmatic beta-catenin expression patterns were assessed separately. Beta-catenin was considered normal if none or only one component was abnormal and was considered dysregulated if both components were abnormal. Differences in pathological characteristics between both groups were investigated. Differences in recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were assessed with the Kaplan-Meier method. Uni- and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess independent predictors of oncological outcomes. Results: 406 patients with a median follow-up of 58 months were included. Overall, 52 (12.8%) and 25 (6.2%) patients recurred and died of ccRCC. Beta-catenin was dysregulated in 70 (17.2%) patients. Dysregulation of beta-catenin was significantly associated with adverse pathologic features, such as higher T-stage, nodal positivity, higher grade, presence of tumor thrombus, sarcomatoid features, necrosis and LVI (all p