[Statistical study of tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter]

We reviewed data from 62 patients with epithelial tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter who were hospitalized and treated at Nagoya University Hospital between July, 1970 and June, 1988. Of the 62 patients, 50 were males and 12 were females, the ratio being 4.2:1. The mean age was 62.1 years, the ages ranging from 41 to 87 years. The peak incidence of tumors was marked in the sixth decade for the males and in the seventh decade for the females. Eighty-two percent of the patients were 50 years of age or older. Smoking habits were noted in 76.0 percent of the males and in 16.7 percent of the females. Asymptomatic macrohematuria, found in 43 patients, was the most frequent symptom. Ninety percent of the 62 tumors were transitional cell carcinoma. Twenty-five patients (40.3%) had concomitant bladder cancer, which was previously diagnosed in 3, simultaneously found in 9, and subsequently developed in 16. Twenty-nine patients had tumors localized in the renal pelvis and eighteen in the ureter; the remaining fifteen had tumors localized in two or three organs, including the renal pelvis, ureter and bladder. Histological grades of ureteral tumors were significantly higher than those of renal pelvic tumors. The sensitivity of urinary cytology was 57.8 percent. High-grade tumors had higher sensitivity than low-grade tumors. Larger tumors (greater than 3 cm in diameter) were significantly associated with high-stage tumors, whereas no apparent correlation was found between tumor size and histological grade. Nonpapillary growth of tumor and vascular invasion were significantly related with high-stage and high-grade tumors; diffuse pattern of tumor infiltration was associated with high-stage tumors.