Prognostic role of ERCC1 protein expression in upper tract urothelial carcinoma following radical nephroureterectomy with curative intent.

BACKGROUND

Excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1) has been associated with outcomes of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder, but was not yet studied in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic role of ERCC1 expression in a large international cohort of UTUC patients.

METHODS

Immunohistochemical ERCC1 expression was evaluated in 716 UTUC patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy with curative intent. ERCC1 was considered positive when the H-score was >1.0. Associations with overall survival and cancer-specific survival were assessed using univariable and multivariable Cox models.

RESULTS

ERCC1 was expressed in 303 tumors (42.3 %) and linked with the presence of tumor necrosis (16.2 vs. 10.4 %, p = 0.023), but not with any other clinical or pathological variable. ERCC1 status did not predict cancer-specific survival and overall survival on both univariable (p = 0.70 and 0.32, respectively) and multivariable analyses (p = 0.48 and 0.33, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

ERCC1 is expressed in a significant proportion of UTUC and is linked with tumor necrosis, but its expression appears not to be associated with prognosis following radical nephroureterectomy.