A Dynamic Agenda Presented by the
Society of Urologic Oncology
November 29 - December 1, 2017, Washington, DC
Jose A. Karam, MD, FACS
Associate Professor
Department of Urology, Division of Surgery
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
he 18th annual meeting of the Society of Urologic Oncology
presented an agenda covering a broad spec-
trum of topics in genitourinary cancers, including a significant
amount of emerging data on renal cell carcinoma.
These findings offer an intriguing picture of how the field
is evolving in many directions, from prognostic factors,
genomic analysis and biomarkers to surveillance protocols, surgical
outcomes and emerging data on pathology. There is much
more to discover in this report. The posters are worth reviewing
to obtain a sense of where investigative work is likely to
present results with potential impact on the standard of care,
or, at the least, will point toward directions to be explored at
future scientific sessions.
Basic and Translational Research
Xu et al (Poster #31) studied the role of sphingosine kinase
1 (SphK1) in cell lines and patient specimens (including
plasma) at the RNA and protein level. In
additional functional and preclinical therapeutics studies
were performed. The authors identified SphK1 upregulation
as a poor prognostic factors in patients with RCC. In
addition, SphK1 overexpression could result in RCC progression
thru the Akt/mTOR pathway, and is a potential
regulator of HIF pathways. In addition, the use of a SphK1
inhibitor resulted in improvement of sunitinib efficacy
in preclinical models.
Lokeshwar et al (Poster #32) performed miR profiling
on 54 tumor samples and 59 controls. They noted that a
combination of altered 3 miRs (miR-21, miR-142-5p, and
miR194) was associated with worse survival outcomes. In
addition, these markers were validated using 311 patients
from the kidney cancer TCGA.
Wu et al (Poster #33) used a next-generation sequencing
panel of 23 known and potential RCC predisposition
genes to study germline mutations in 190 Chinese patients
106 Kidney Cancer Journal
with RCC diagnosis under the age of 45 years. They
noted that 9.5% of patients had germline mutations in 10
of the genes, including 12 patients with mutations in
known RCC genes (BAP1, VHL, FH, PBRM1, TSC1/2, FLCN).
Ghanaat et al (Poster #156) studied 281 patients with
non-metastatic RCC who underwent surgery, and had genomic
analysis of VHL, PBRM1, SETD2, BAP1, and
KDM5C done. 33 patients developed metastatic disease
at median follow up of 9 years. This more recent cohort
was used to validate the 2008 MSKCC nomogram to predict
metastatic disease in patients who undergo definitive
surgery. The authors noted that the nomogram is still
valid and accurate in this more recent patient population,
and that KDM5C mutation status was still significant
when incorporated into this nomogram.
Sanchez et al (Poster #163) used flow cytometry to study
tumor microenvironment (TME) in 48 patients who underwent
renal surgery. The authors noted that total CD8+
T-cell population was not associated with poor oncologic
features, however the rate of resident CD8+ T-cells
(CD8a+CD49a+CD103-) was associated with advanced
stage at diagnosis.
Bhindi et al (Poster #53) evaluated Bim expression in
peritumoral lymphocytes in 525 patients with metastatic
clear cell RCC who underwent radical nephrectomy (169
patients had synchronous metastases), and found that
high Bim expression was associated with worse CSS and
OS in this cohort.
Lane et al (Poster #159) conducted a pilot study of measuring
urine biomarkers using an ELISA multiplex assay in
patients undergoing surgery (20 partial, and 2 radical
nephrectomy). They performed selective ureteral
catheterization of the operated kidney and foley catheter
drainage to measure the biomarkers selectively. The au-
KCJ Meeting Highlights
T