Pulmonary Metastasectomy Could Prolong Overall Survival in Select Cases of Metastatic Urinary Tract Cancer.

Background: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of metastasectomy for urinary tract carcinoma (UTC) and to determine prognostic factors that affect survival.

Methods: Data from a total of 30 patients with metastatic UTC who underwent a metastasectomy between February 2000 and July 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. Time to disease progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) from metastasectomy, and potential prognostic factors were evaluated.

Results: The lung was the most frequent site of metastasectomy (n = 24) followed by the liver (n = 3) and lymph nodes (n = 3). With a median follow-up duration of 54.2 months, the median TTP was 15.2 months and the median OS was 30.0 months (95% confidence interval, 15.1-42.9) with a 3-year survival rate of 41%. In multivariate analysis, initial stage IV disease (P = .047), pure urothelial pathology (P = .034), and nonpulmonary metastasectomy (P = .040) were independent prognostic factors for a shorter TTP. Nonpulmonary metastasectomy was an independent factor affecting OS (P = .001).

Conclusions: A metastasectomy has the potential to contribute to better oncologic outcome in select patients with metastatic UTC, especially those with a single rather than multiple and pulmonary rather than nonpulmonary metastases due to recurrent rather than initially metastatic urinary tract cancer.