The prognostic role of body mass index on oncological outcomes of upper tract urothelial carcinoma

Abstract

Simple Summary In patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma, the impact of body mass index on oncological outcomes is still a matter of debate. We use the Clinical Research Office of the Endourology Society Urothelial Carcinomas of the Upper Tract Registry to compare the overall survival, cancer-specific survival, and recurrence-free survival between normal weight, overweight and obese patients. After balancing the clinicopathological features by propensity score matching, being overweight/obese (body mass index >= 25.0 kg/m2) was associated with a decreased risk of recurrence in upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients but not overall survival or cancer-specific survival.Abstract (1) Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether overweight and obese upper urinary tract carcinoma (UTUC) patients have better or worse survival outcomes. (2) Methods: The Clinical Research Office of the Endourology Society Urothelial Carcinomas of the Upper Tract (CROES-UTUC) Registry was used to extract the data of normal-weight or overweight/obese UTUC patients between 2014 and 2019. Patients with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m2 were defined as normal weight, while those with a BMI >= 25.0 kg/m2 were considered as overweight/obese group. We compared baseline characteristics among groups categorized by different BMIs. The Kaplan-Meier plots with the log-rank test were used to explore the overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Propensity score matching was performed to eliminate the differences in clinicopathologic features. The Declaration of Helsinki was followed during this study. (3) Results: Of 1196 UTUC patients, 486 patients (40.6%) were normal weight, while 710 patients (59.4%) presented with a BMI >= 25.0 kg/m2. After propensity score matching, all baseline characteristics were balanced. For normal weight and overweight/obese patients, 2-year overall survival rates were 77.8% and 87.2%, 2-year cancer-specific survival rates were 85.2% and 92.7%, and 2-year recurrence rates were 50.6% and 73.0%, respectively. The overweight patients obtained a better RFS (p = 0.003, HR 0.548, 95% CI 0.368-0.916) while their OS (p = 0.373, HR 0.761, 95% CI 0.416-1.390) and CSS (p = 0.272, HR 0.640, 95% CI 0.287-1.427) were similar to normal weight patients. (4) Conclusions: Being overweight/obese (BMI >= 25.0 kg/m2) was associated with a decreased risk of recurrence in UTUC patients but not overall survival or cancer-specific survival.