Upper urinary tract urothelial carcinomas - our experience

Urothelial carcinoma is the second most common urological malignancy. Around 5-10% of tumors are found in the upper urinary tract, while almost 90-95% are in the bladder.

Patients of our department diagnosed with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) during the period 2014-2018 were included. The frequency, selected therapeutic procedures and treatment results were analyzed.

In the last 5 years, 21 patients with UTUC were diagnosed and surgically treated at the Department of Urology, Regional Hospital Nachod. The main surgical approach was nephroureterectomy. Mortality was 28.6% due to the original tumor diagnosis. Urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract was more common in men than in women in our patient group.

Unfortunately, urothelial carcinomas of the upper urinary tract are often dealt with only in locally advanced stages or when nodal or distant metastases are present, making any possible administration of adjuvant chemotherapy complicated as it fails to provide a sufficient effect. Therefore, radical nephroureterectomy remains the gold standard for more than a half of patients. Overall survival depends largely on the presence of distant metastases. The pT category is the major influencing parameter for a relapse.