Prognosis of Primary Papillary Ta Grade 3 Bladder Cancer in the Non-muscle-invasive Spectrum.

BACKGROUND: Ta grade 3 (G3) non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is a relatively rare diagnosis with an ambiguous character owing to the presence of an aggressive G3 component together with the lower malignant potential of the Ta component. The European Association of Urology (EAU) NMIBC guidelines recently changed the risk stratification for Ta G3 from high risk to intermediate, high, or very high risk. However, prognostic studies on Ta G3 carcinomas are limited and inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prognostic value of categorizing Ta G3 compared to Ta G2 and T1 G3 carcinomas. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Individual patient data for 5170 primary Ta-T1 bladder tumors from 17 hospitals were analyzed. Transurethral resection of the tumor was performed between 1990 and 2018. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Time to recurrence and time to progression were analyzed using cumulative incidence functions, log-rank tests, and multivariable Cox-regression models with interaction terms stratified by institution. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Ta G3 represented 7.5% (387/5170) of Ta-T1 carcinomas of which 42% were classified as intermediate risk. Time to recurrence did not differ between Ta G3 and Ta G2 (p = 0.9) or T1 G3 (p = 0.4). Progression at 5 yr occurred for 3.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.7-4.8%) of Ta G2, 13% (95% CI 9.3-17%) of Ta G3, and 20% (95% CI 17-23%) of T1 G3 carcinomas. Time to progression for Ta G3 was shorter than for Ta G2 (p < 0.001) and longer than for T1 G3 (p = 0.002). Patients with Ta G3 NMIBC with concomitant carcinoma in situ (CIS) had worse prognosis and a similar time to progression as for patients with T1 G3 NMIBC with CIS (p = 0.5). Multivariable analyses for recurrence and progression showed similar results. CONCLUSIONS: The prognosis of Ta G3 tumors in terms of progression appears to be in between that of Ta G2 and T1 G3. However, patients with Ta G3 NMIBC with concomitant CIS have worse prognosis that is comparable to that of T1 G3 with CIS. Our results support the recent EAU NMIBC guideline changes for more refined risk stratification of Ta G3 tumors because many of these patients have better prognosis than previously thought. PATIENT SUMMARY: We used data from 17 centers in Europe and Canada to assess the prognosis for patients with stage Ta grade 3 (G3) non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Time to cancer progression for Ta G3 cancer differed from both Ta G2 and T1 G3 tumors. Our results support the recent change in the European Association of Urology guidelines for more refined risk stratification of Ta G3 NMIBC because many patients with this tumor have better prognosis than previously thought.

Mutational landscape of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) includes stage Ta and stage T1 tumors and carcinoma in situ (CIS). Grading of Ta tumors subdivides these lesions into papillary urothelial neoplasms of low malignant potential and low- and high-grade noninvasive papillary urothelial carcinoma. CIS is by definition high-grade and the majority of stage T1 tumors are of high-grade. This pathologic heterogeneity is associated with divergent clinical outcome, with significantly worse prognosis for patients with T1 tumors or CIS. A wealth of molecular information has accumulated on NMIBC including mutational data that ranges from the whole chromosome level to next generation sequence data at nucleotide level. This has not only identified key genes that are mutated in NMIBC, but also provides insight into the processes that shape their mutational landscape. Although molecular analyses cannot yet provide definitive personal prognostic information, many differences between these entities promise improved disease management in the future. Most information is available for Ta and T1 samples and this is the focus of this review.

Stage-stratified molecular profiling of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer enhances biological, clinical, and therapeutic insight.

Understanding the molecular determinants that underpin the clinical heterogeneity of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is essential for prognostication and therapy development. Stage T1 disease in particular presents a high risk of progression and requires improved understanding. We present a detailed multi-omics study containing gene expression, copy number, and mutational profiles that show relationships to immune infiltration, disease recurrence, and progression to muscle invasion. We compare expression and genomic subtypes derived from all NMIBCs with those derived from the individual disease stages Ta and T1. We show that sufficient molecular heterogeneity exists within the separate stages to allow subclassification and that this is more clinically meaningful for stage T1 disease than that derived from all NMIBCs. This provides improved biological understanding and identifies subtypes of T1 tumors that may benefit from chemo- or immunotherapy.

Expression of miR-100 and miR-138 as prognostic biomarkers in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

microRNA alterations are involved in bladder cancer tumorigenesis. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the potential role of miR-100 and miR-138 as prognostic biomarkers in Ta/T1 non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). We assessed a quantitative RT-PCR analysis of miR-100 and miR-138 in 50 bladder tumor samples (stage Ta/T1) and four healthy adjacent tissues. Western blot analysis was used to measure protein expression of FGFR3 and cyclin D3 in order to know whether these targets can be regulated by miR-100 and miR-138, respectively. The statistical analysis included non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis) and univariate survival analysis by Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Low expression of miR-138 characterized recurrent tumors (p = 0.043), and higher expression levels were associated with longer recurrence-free survival (p = 0.012). However, low miR-100 expression correlated with longer progression-free survival (marginal significance; p = 0.053) and cancer-specific overall survival (p = 0.006). Additionally, higher levels of miR-100 were associated with negative FGFR3 protein expression (p = 0.032) and higher levels of miR-138 were associated with positive cyclin D3 protein expression (p = 0.037). Our results support miR-138 and miR-100 as prognostic biomarkers in patients with NMIBC.

Immunohistochemical expression of Ki-67, Cyclin D1, p16INK4a, and Survivin as a predictive tool for recurrence and progression-free survival in papillary urothelial bladder cancer pTa / pT1 G2 (WHO 1973).

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression of several immunohistochemical (IHC) markers and their predictive ability for the recurrence-free and progression-free survival of papillary urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) pTa/pT1 G2 (WHO 1973) compared to classical anatomo-clinical variables using a multidimensional analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A population-based cohort of 213 primary stage UBC (pTa/pT1) G2 (WHO 1973) was evaluated by classic anatomopathological variables and characterized by immunohistochemistry (23 IHC markers, representative of different oncogenic pathways). The most important variables as a predictor of recurrence-free and progression-free survival were selected using multidimensional statistical models, such as random survival forests and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (. Recurrence and progression-free survival of the previously selected variables were also calculated. RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 58 ± 33.5 months. Recurrence and progression rates were 54.5% (n = 116) and 17,4% (n = 37), respectively. The most influential variables in the low recurrence-free survival were in order: number of resected tumors, high expression of Ki67 (>10%), Cyclin D1 (>10%), and low cytoplasmic staining of p16INK4a. Regarding low progression-free survival, the most important variables were Ki67 (>15%), multicentric tumor arrangement and Survivin nuclear expression (>20%). Kaplan-Meier and cox-regression model analyses showed that the variables selected by multidimensional models were able to discriminate the clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Ki67 index is the most useful IHC marker, since it can improve the prediction of both recurrence and progression-free survival in papillary UBC pTa/pT1 G2 (WHO 1973). There are other markers, whose utility is specific to recurrence-free survival, such as Cyclin D1 and p16INK4a or in progression-free survival, such as Survivin.