BACKGROUND: We relied on the most contemporary Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and tested the hypothesis that chemotherapy may improve survival in metastatic urachal carcinoma (m-UraC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Within the SEER database (2004-2016), we identified m-UraC patients aged ≥ 18 years. Propensity score matching (PSM: cystectomy status, age and sex), Kaplan-Meier plots, cumulative incidence plots, Cox regression models and competing risks regression (CRR) models addressed overall mortality (OM) and cancer-specific mortality (CSM). RESULTS: Overall, 274 m-UraC patients were identified with a median age of 70 years. Most were male (66%) and Caucasian (72%). Overall, 32% received chemotherapy. Chemotherapy-exposed patients were younger (62 vs. 73 years, p<0.001) and more frequently underwent cystectomy (19 vs. 8%, P = 0.014). In 274 m-UraC patients, median OM and CSM were 6 (4 -10) months and 8 (6 -14) months, respectively. After 1:1 PSM, chemotherapy-exposed patients exhibited lower OM (median 16 vs. 3 months; multivariable HR 0.38, P <0.001) and lower CSM (median 17 vs. 4 months; multivariable CRR HR 0.52, P = 0.001). The association between chemotherapy and better survival was even stronger in younger (≤70 years) patients (OM HR: 0.23, P <0.001; CSM CRR HR: 0.42, P = 0.001), but not in older (≥71 years) patients (OM HR: 0.61, P = 0.2; CSM CRR HR: 1.02, P = 1), after PSM and multivariable adjustments. CONCLUSION: Overall, we validated the very aggressive nature of UraC, when distant metastases are present, and observed that m-UraC patients exposed to chemotherapy exhibited lower OM and CSM.

Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit Division of Urology University of Montréal Health Center Montréal Québec Canada

Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit Division of Urology University of Montréal Health Center Montréal Québec Canada; Department of Surgical and Diagnostic Integrated Sciences University of Genova Genova Italy

Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit Division of Urology University of Montréal Health Center Montréal Québec Canada; Department of Urology and Division of Experimental Oncology URI Urological Research Institute IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute Milan Italy

Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit Division of Urology University of Montréal Health Center Montréal Québec Canada; Department of Urology University Hospital Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main Germany

Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit Division of Urology University of Montréal Health Center Montréal Québec Canada; Martini Klinik Prostate Cancer Center University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf Hamburg Germany

Department of Maternal Child and Urological Sciences Sapienza University Rome Policlinico Umberto 1 Hospital Rome Italy

Department of Maternal Child and Urological Sciences Sapienza University Rome Policlinico Umberto 1 Hospital Rome Italy; Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit Division of Urology University of Montréal Health Center Montréal Québec Canada

Department of Urology and Division of Experimental Oncology URI Urological Research Institute IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute Milan Italy

Department of Urology University Hospital Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main Germany

Departments of Urology Weill Cornell Medical College New York New York USA; Department of Urology University of Texas Southwestern Dallas Texas USA; Department of Urology 2nd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prag Czech Republic; Institute for Urology and Reproductive Health 1 M Sechenov 1st Moscow State Medical University Moscow Russia; Division of Urology Department of Special Surgery Jordan University Hospital The University of Jordan Amman Jordan; Department of Urology Comprehensive Cancer Center Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria

Martini Klinik Prostate Cancer Center University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf Hamburg Germany; Department of Urology University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf Hamburg Germany

References provided by Crossref.org

The Effect of Sex on Disease Stage and Survival after Radical Cystectomy in Non-Urothelial Variant-Histology Bladder Cancer