[Primary cancer of the ureter: report of 31 cases]

Thirty-one cases of ureteral carcinoma have been treated from 1973 to 1988. 23 patients were male and 8 female. The average age was 57.1, and usually occurred in the fourth to sixth decade (77.4%). The growth was over grade T2 in 74.2%. All tumors were located in the middle and lower third of the ureter. A tendency to increasing incidence in this lesions was found, owing to the advance in diagnostic technique. The causes of delay diagnosis were discussed. The importance of retrograde pyelography including total ureter and direct biopsy through ureteroscopy are stressed. Nephroureterectomy with excision of a bladder cuff is the preferred technique.