[Pelvic tumors in the eyes of urologists]

Pelvic tumors originating from outside the urinary tract commonly invade the urogenital organs by direct extension mainly because of the close relationships between the pelvic organs. Benign tumors such as endometrial myoma, ovarian cyst and adenoma of the colon might lead to the development of urogenital symptoms. This is also the case with malignant tumors of the uterus, ovaries, cervix and colon where infiltration of the urogenital organs might be noted. The most commonly mentioned symptoms involve incontinence, infections, obstructive symptoms, and in terminal cases those of renal failure. These are the symptoms that lead to the diagnosis of the primary tumor. It has to be kept in mind that urogenital tumors with such symptoms have to be included in the differential diagnosis. The therapeutic measures are directed at first to relieve the symptoms before intending to deal with the causative source. An example is the development of hydronephrosis, where the initial measure has to be the immediate relief of the obstruction through draining of either the kidney or the urinary bladder. The possibility of eradicating the tumor is then to be discussed after relieving the obstruction.