Urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract: preoperative pyuria is not correlated with bladder cancer recurrence and survival

To identify the impact of preoperative pyuria on the bladder cancer recurrence and survival of patients who were treated surgically for UTUC. Study included 319 consecutive patients who were treated with RNU for UTUC. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to evaluate the association of preoperative pyuria with outcome. Eighty patients (25.1%) had pyuria. Preoperative pyuria was associated with sex (P = 0.01), tumor focality (P = 0.01), tumor size (P = 0.05), tumor stage (P = 0.01), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.01), lymphovascular invasion (P = 0.02), and chemotherapy (P = 0.04). A total of 102 patients recurred, with a median time to bladder recurrence of 24.2 months. Bladder cancer recurrence-free survival rates for these 319 patients at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 years were 84.6, 72.4, 69.0, 68.3, and 68.0%, respectively. Preoperative pyuria was not independently associated with bladder cancer recurrence (HR 1.15; p = 0.5). Preoperative pyuria was associated with OS (HR 1.57; p = 0.02) and CSS (HR 1.65; p = 0.02). However, preoperative pyuria was not independently associated with OS and CSS (HR 1.07; p = 0.79). Preoperative pyuria is unable to predict outcomes in a single-centre series of consecutive patients who were treated with RNU.