Poor prognosis of urothelial carcinoma in patients presented with persistent paraneoplastic leukocytosis with anemia

INTRODUCTION: Paraneoplastic leukocytosis is a rare manifestation of urological cancer. This condition is well associated with the poor prognosis in other solid tumors. Anemia is the most common hematological manifestation of cancer, affecting 40%–64% of patients with cancer. This condition is also well associated with a poor prognosis. The goal of this research is to determine the clinical presentation and fate of individuals with urothelial carcinoma who have persistent paraneoplastic leukocytosis and anemia. METHODS: From January 2014 to December 2020, a retrospective cohort of patients with a histological result of urothelial carcinoma was collected. Data were extracted from a single National Cancer Center Hospital in Indonesia. Persistent leukocytosis is defined as a leukocyte count ≥20,000/mL on at least two occasions with a minimum interval of 30 days. Anemia is defined using the WHO definition of anemia. Urinalysis, chest X-ray, and other blood tests were performed to exclude other probable causes of leukocytosis. RESULTS: Thirteen of 123 patients screened presented with persistent paraneoplastic leukocytosis and anemia. All patients presented with bladder cancer, with two patients (15.4%) presented with a mixed histological urothelial carcinoma. During the trial, all of the patients died, with a median survival of 20 days after the beginning of paraneoplastic leukocytosis with anemia. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent paraneoplastic leukocytosis and anemia in a patient with urothelial carcinoma are a rare condition that is associated to a poor prognosis and a lower median overall survival time.