Treatment of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract

Forty-six patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract treated over a 44-year period were studied. The lack of characteristic presentation caused delay in diagnosis. Associated urinary calculi were found in only five (11%) of the patients. Almost all of the tumors were histologically high grade; at surgery, 84% of the tumors were locally advanced or metastatic. Prognosis is poor independent of treatment; the overall 24-month survival rate was 22%. Comparison with a previous study of renal pelvic transitional cell carcinoma indicates that these two forms of urothelial neoplasm are biologically different.