Upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) is an uncommon disease that accounts for approximately 5% to 10% of all urinary tract cancers. The prognosis for UTUC is poor, and there is a deficit of effective molecular biomarkers that can be utilized for it.
A team of researchers recently investigated the potential value of CD68- and CD163-positive macrophages as biomarkers in patients with upper tract UTUC.
Their retrospective study enrolled 50 patients with UTUC who had received radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) to be evaluated for the expression of CD68 and CD163 in the intratumor compartment by immunohistochemistry. Overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and bladder recurrence-free survival (BRFS) were measured using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression model.
Patients with UTUC who had a high infiltration of CD163-positive macrophages were found to have worse OS, CSS, and RFS (P<.05 for each). According to a multivariate analysis, a high infiltration of CD163-positive macrophages also served as an independent negative prognostic factor of OS and CSS in patients with UTUC who received RNU. Lymphovascular invasion was an independent negative prognostic factor of RFS, and high infiltration of CD68-positive macrophages was an independent positive prognostic factor of BRFS.
High infiltration of CD163-positive macrophages can serve as a potential prognostic marker for survival in patients with UTUC who receive RNU. High infiltration of CD68-positive macrophages in the intratumoral compartment may also serve as a useful prognostic marker for bladder recurrence. Further studies utilizing larger cohorts are needed to assess the definite efficacy of CD68- and CD163-positive macrophages as UTUC biomarkers.
