[Clinical study of renal pelvic tumors]

A retrospective study was conducted on 22 patients with renal pelvic tumor treated at our University Hospital between 1970 and 1984. The patients included 18 males and 4 females, from 31 to 81 years of age. The left kidney was involved in 14 cases, and the right in 8. More than 60% of them also presented gross hematuria. IVP abnormalities included filling defects in 9 cases and non-visualizing kidney in 8 cases. Pretreatment urinary cytology was positive in 65.7%. Radical nephroureterectomy was performed in 18 cases, followed by adjuvant therapy in 10 cases; radiation in 5 cases, chemotherapy in 4 cases, and radiation/chemotherapy in one case. Histology revealed transitional cell carcinoma in all cases. On diagnosis, simultaneous urothelial tumors were identified in one case in the ureter and the bladder, and in one case in the bladder. Tumor development after surgery was observed in 9 cases, 8 in the bladder and one in the ipsilateral renal pelvis. The 5-year actual survival rate was 58.2% over all: that of the low-grade group was 100%; that of the high-grade group, 45.1%; that of the low-stage group, 100%; that of the high-stage group, 19%. In conclusion, the prognosis in our series was significantly influenced by the stage and grade of the tumor.