Intracavitary Chemotherapy after kidney-Sparing Therapy for Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma: A Meta-Analysis

Intracavitary chemotherapy is one of the current treatment options for kidney-sparing treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to assess the efficacy and safety of intracavitary perfusion.

We carefully selected publications for study from four databases (Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus) up to January 2023. The R 4.0.4 software was used to calculate the pooled ratio and its 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The I2 score was used to test heterogeneity, and the funnel plot was used to estimate the publication bias.

Thirty-four studies with a total of 788 patients were included in this study. The overall survival at a median follow-up of 26.3 months was 87.2% (95% CI 0.80–0.93). The cancer-specific survival at a median follow-up of 30 months was 94.1% (95% CI 0.89–0.98). At a median follow-up of 30 months, the recurrence rate of UTUC was 27.5% (95% CI 0.21–0.34). By subgroup analysis, we found that the recurrence rate in patients with T1 / Ta stage was 35.1% and CIS stage 29.0%. The recurrence rates of BCG, Mitomycin C, and Mitomycin Gel (UGN101) were 31.2%, 41.3% and 12.9%, respectively. The recurrence rates for anterograde and retrograde perfusion were 28.5% and 21.8%, respectively.

With the advent of new drugs, including UGN101, patients with UTUC have a better prognosis. Therefore, kidney preservation therapy for patients with UTUC would be promising.