Prognostic and Predictive Value of Epigenetic Biomarkers and Clinical Factors in Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma

Abstract

Aim: We conducted this study to identify gene promoter methylation status and clinical predictors for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) patients. Materials & methods: Using methylation-sensitive PCR, we examined ten genes promoter methylation status in 687 UTUC patients. Results: A methylated promoter of three genes to predict higher tumor stage (T3 and T4), five genes to predict higher tumor grade (G3) and one gene to predict pN+ were certified in this study. Nine factors were significantly associated with poor cancer-specific survival. Six factors were considered as predictors to develop bladder recurrence after surgery. Conclusion: Methylation occurs commonly in UTUCs, may affect carcinogenic mechanisms, and is a well predictive factor for cancer-specific survival and bladder recurrence in UTUCs.

Keywords::

• epigenetic biomarkers
• nomogram
• oncological outcomes
• predictive model
• upper tract urothelial carcinoma

Acknowledgements

We thank L Zhang, Q Liu, Y Cui and J Gai for their excellent experimental techniques.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Collaborative Research Foundation of Peking University Health Science Center and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine (BMU20120318), Natural Science Foundation of Beijing (7122183, 7152146), Natural Science Foundation of China (81172419, 81372746) and The Clinical Features Research of Capital (No. Z151100004015173). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Collaborative Research Foundation of Peking University Health Science Center and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine (BMU20120318), Natural Science Foundation of Beijing (7122183, 7152146), Natural Science Foundation of China (81172419, 81372746) and The Clinical Features Research of Capital (No. Z151100004015173). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.