Squamous cell carcinoma of renal pelvis

Squamous carcinoma of the renal pelvis was diagnosed in only 11 of 2,166 renal tumors (0.5%) seen over a twenty-seven-year period. The combination of an insidious onset and a prolonged duration of symptoms (median: 5 months) resulted in all patients having invasive disease at diagnosis. Ten patients died two to twenty-eight months after diagnosis (median survival: 5 months), and only 1 patient is currently alive at nine months. We conclude that the treatment of choice is radical nephrectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy.