Predictors of survival from urachal cancer: a Mayo Clinic study of 49 cases.

Background: Outcome results of a long-term analysis of urachal cancer using a new staging system are presented.

Methods: The authors analyzed clinical outcomes from 49 patients with the diagnosis of urachal cancer who were seen at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota from 1950 to 2003. The TNM staging system was used to predict outcome after surgical resection.

Results: Among 49 study patients, 33 were men, 16 were women, and their median age at presentation was 57.5 years. The vast majority of tumors were adenocarcinomas (89%), 4% were sarcomas and transitional cell carcinomas, and the rest were high-grade mixed neoplasms. Among the adenocarcinomas, 63.6% were mucin-producing tumors. Partial cystectomy with or without pelvic lymph node dissection and removal of the urachus was performed in 41 (83%) cases. Overall survival for all stages was 62 months with 17 (34%) patients still alive more than 5 years after treatment. Applying the TNM staging system, the authors demonstrated a median survival time for stage I/II patients of 10.8 years (95% CI, 6.9 years to 12.0 years) compared with a median survival of 1.3 years (95% CI, 1.1 years to 1.9 years; log-rank P<.0001) for patients with advanced disease (stages III and IV).

Conclusions: Stage at presentation by the TNM staging system proved to be the main predictor of outcome after surgery for urachal cancer. Better systemic modality treatments are needed for advanced stages of this disease.