Concomitant carcinoma in situ may not be a prognostic factor for patients with bladder cancer following radical cystectomy: a PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Numerous recent studies have shown that concomitant carcinoma in situ (CIS) can be closely associated with the prognosis of patients with bladder cancer (BCa). However, the prognostic value of CIS in BCa is still not conclusive. Hence, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the association between CIS and clinicopathological features and the prognostic value for BCa following radical cystectomy. METHODS: We performed this study in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Relevant studies were systematically collected from PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science, with an expiration date of August 2018. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled to assess the intensity of association. All data were analyzed by Stata 12.0. Moreover, heterogeneity and publication bias were determined, and sensitivity analysis was performed to examine whether the findings of the meta-analysis were robust. RESULTS: A total of 18,845 patients from 24 studies were included in the analysis. Our results indicated that CIS has no significant correlation with cancer-specific mortality (CSM) (pooled HR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.93-1.00, p = 0.059), overall mortality (OM) (pooled HR = 0.93, 95% CI 0.85-1.01, p = 0.076), overall survival (OS) (pooled HR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.96-1.12, p = 0.386), cancer-specific survival (CSS) (pooled HR = 1.06, 95% CI 0.97-1.16, p = 0.186), recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.99-1.11, p = 0.098) or recurrence (pooled HR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.98-1.11, p = 0.212) in BCa patients. In addition, CIS was not correlated with gender (male vs. female, OR = 1.00, 95% CI 0.74-1.34, p = 0.978), pathological stage (III/IV vs. I/II: OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.50-1.10, p = 0.132), tumor grade (1/2 vs. 3: OR = 3.38, 95% CI 0.73-15.65, p = 0.119), soft tissue surgical margin (STSM) (+ vs. - : OR = 1.20, 95% CI 0.97-1.48, p = 0.093) or lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (+ vs. - : OR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.62-1.38, p = 0.702),but was closely related to adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) (yes vs. no, OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.03-1.32, p = 0.019). Furthermore, these findings were demonstrated to be reliable by our sensitivity and subgroup analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The prognostic value of CIS in BCa remains inconclusive in patients submitted to RC. Our data indicated that CIS may have no significant correlation with the prognosis and clinicopathological parameters of BCa patients, and also may not be applied to risk stratification or individualized therapy in BCa patients. Further research should be conducted to confirm our findings.

Surgical margin status and its impact on prostate cancer prognosis after radical prostatectomy: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Positive surgical margins (PSMs) correlate with adverse outcomes in numerous solid tumours. However, the prognostic value of PSMs in prostate cancer (PCa) patients who underwent radical prostatectomy remains unclear. Herein, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between PSMs and the prognostic value for biochemical recurrence-free survival (BRFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), overall survival (OS), cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and overall mortality (OM) in PCa patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: According to the PRISMA statement, online databases PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched to identify relevant studies published prior to February 2018. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to evaluate the relationship between PSMs and PCa. RESULTS: Ultimately, 32 cohort studies that met the eligibility criteria and involved 141,222 patients (51-65,633 per study) were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that PSMs were significantly predictive of poorer BRFS (HR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.28-1.48, p < 0.001), CSS (HR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.16-1.90, p = 0.001) and OS (HR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.02-1.20, p = 0.014). In addition, PSMs were significantly associated with higher risk of CSM (HR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.16-1.30, p < 0.001) and OM (HR = 1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.16, p = 0.009) in patients with PCa. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the presence of a histopathologic PSM is associated with the clinical outcomes BRFS, CSS, OS, CSM and OM in patients with PCa, and PSMs could serve as a poor prognostic factor for patients with PCa.

Positive surgical margin is associated with biochemical recurrence risk following radical prostatectomy: a meta-analysis from high-quality retrospective cohort studies.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although numerous studies have shown that positive surgical margin (PSM) is linked to biochemical recurrence (BCR) in prostate cancer (PCa), the research results have been inconsistent. This study aimed to explore the association between PSM and BCR in patients with PCa following radical prostatectomy (RP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In accordance with the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), PubMed, EMBASE and Wan Fang databases were searched for eligible studies from inception to November 2017. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was performed by using Stata 12.0. Combined hazard ratios (HRs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random-effects or fixed-effects models. RESULTS: Ultimately, 41 retrospective cohort studies of high quality that met the eligibility criteria, comprising 37,928 patients (94-3294 per study), were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that PSM was associated with higher BCR risk in both univariate analysis (pooled HR = 1.56; 95% CI 1.46, 1.66; p < 0.001) and multivariate analysis (pooled HR = 1.35; 95% CI 1.27, 1.43; p < 0.001). Moreover, no potential publication bias was observed among the included studies in univariate analysis (p-Begg = 0.971) and multivariate analysis (p-Begg = 0.401). CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis demonstrated that PSM is associated with a higher risk of BCR in PCa following RP and could serve as an independent prognostic factor in patients with PCa.

The prognostic value of tumor architecture in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma treated with radical nephroureterectomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is a lack of consensus regarding the prognostic value of tumor architecture (sessile vs. papillary) in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) treated with radical nephroureterectomy (RNU). The aim of the present study was to analyze the current evidence regarding the prognostic role of tumor architecture in patients undergoing RNU for UTUC through a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: According to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, Wanfang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases was performed for citations published prior to February 2020. Cumulative analyses of hazard ratios (HRs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were conducted for the survival outcomes by Stata 12.0 software. RESULTS: We retrieved 17 studies (including 8,146 patients) evaluating the effect of tumor architecture on oncologic outcomes in patients treated with RNU. According to our final results, sessile tumor architecture had a significant correlation with worse cancer-specific survival (CSS) (HR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.31-1.55, P < .001), overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.24-1.58, P < .001), recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.35-1.53, P < .001), and progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.11-1.45, P = 0.001). The funnel plot test indicated that there was no significant publication bias in the meta-analysis. Besides, the findings of this study were found to be reliable by our sensitivity and subgroup analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Sessile tumor architecture correlates with a significantly worse survival outcome compared with papillary tumor architecture, and it can be used as a valuable biomarker for monitoring prognoses of UTUC patients.

Comparison of selective and main renal artery clamping in partial nephrectomy of renal cell cancer: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the studies comparing the efficiency and safety of selective renal artery clamping (SAC) and main renal artery clamping (MAC) in partial nephrectomy (PN) for renal cell cancer (RCC). METHODS: According to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses statement, a literature search on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure were conducted to identify relevant studies published through December 2017. Outcomes of interest included baseline characteristics and perioperative surgical variables. RESULTS: In all, 14 studies involving 2824 RCC patients comparing SAC and MAC were included in this meta-analysis. No differences were detected in mean patient body mass index (P = .08), tumor size (P = .22), baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (P = .60), American Society of Anesthesiologists score (P = .97), or RENAL score (P = .70). The mean age was significantly younger in the SAC group compared with the MAC group (P = .002). There was no difference between SAC and MAC groups in terms of warm ischemia time (P = .31), transfusion rate (P = .18), length of hospital stay (P = .47), or postoperative complication rate (P = .23). Although SAC had longer operating time (OT) (P = .04) and more estimated blood loss (EBL) (P = .0002), a lower percentage decrease in eGFR in the SAC group was found compared to the MAC group (P = .002). CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing PN with SAC had longer OT and higher EBL. SAC was more frequently used in younger patient. SAC offered better renal function preservation when compared with MAC for RCC. Given the inherent limitations of the included studies, further well-designed randomized controlled trials are required to verify these findings.

The impact of lymphovascular invasion in patients with prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy and its association with their clinicopathological features: An updated PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies have shown that lymphovascular invasion (LVI) is linked to biochemical recurrence (BCR) in prostate cancer (PCa) patients following radical prostatectomy (RP). However, the actual clinicopathological impacts of LVI remain unclear. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the pathologic and prognostic impacts of LVI in PCa patients. METHODS: Following the guidance of the PRISMA statement, relevant studies were collected systematically from the PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases to identify relevant studies published before June 2018. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to investigate the association of LVI with BCR and clinicopathological features. RESULTS: A total of 20 studies including 25,570 patients (106-6678 per study) with PCa were incorporated into this meta-analysis. Overall pooled analysis suggested that LVI was associated with a higher BCR risk both in univariate (pooled HR=1.50, 95% CI: 1.34-1.68, P <.001) and multivariate analyses (pooled HR=1.25, 95% CI: 1.17-1.34, P <.001). In addition, LVI was closely correlated with extraprostatic extension (yes vs no: OR = 4.23, 95% CI: 1.86-9.61, P <.001), pathological GS (≥7 vs <7: OR = 5.46, 95% CI: 2.25-13.27, P <.001), lymph node metastases (yes vs no: OR = 18.56, 95% CI: 7.82-44.06, P <.001), higher pathological stage (≥ T3 vs < T2: OR = 6.75, 95% CI: 5.46-8.36, P <.001), positive surgical margin (positive vs negative: OR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.57-3.72, P <.001) and seminal vesicle invasion (yes vs no: OR = 5.72, 95% CI: 2.45-13.36, P <.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that LVI in histopathology is associated with a higher risk of BCR and advanced clinicopathological features in PCa patients and could serve as a poor prognostic factor in patients who underwent RP.