Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma (UTUC): Prevalence, Impact and Management Challenge

Abstract

Elizabeth Nally,1 Matthew Young,1 Vishwani Chauhan,2 Connor Wells,1 Bernadett Szabados,1 Thomas Powles,1 Francesca Jackson-Spence1 1Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK; 2Department of Medical Oncology, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UKCorrespondence: Elizabeth Nally, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK, Tel [phone], Email [email protected]: Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is an aggressive and difficult malignancy to treat. Owing to its rarity and the lack of specific high-level data, management mirrors that of urothelial cancer of the bladder (UCB). Over the past decade, UTUC has shown minimal improvement in survival rates. Its location makes the diagnosis and staging of UTUC more complex. Moreover, surgery often leads to a decline in renal function, rendering a proportion of patients ineligible for cisplatin. There is debate as to how best manage locally advanced UTUC perioperatively. Although immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have changed the treatment landscape for UCB, the response to ICIs in UTUC has been variable. With new technologies, our understanding of the molecular biology of UTUC has grown, helping to identify key molecular differences from UCB. This review summarises the evidence available on UTUC as a disease entity, discusses treatment in perioperative and metastatic settings, and considers future directions for the management of patients diagnosed with UTUC.Keywords: urothelial, upper tract, immunotherapy, targeted therapy

Keywords

• urothelial
• upper tract
• immunotherapy
• targeted therapy