[Urothelial cancer of the upper urinary tract]

Uretero-nephrectomy with bladder cuff was performed in 61 patients with renal pelvis and ureter carcinoma between 1982 and 1987. A retrospective study was done on 54 patients, with a mean follow up of 56.9 months. The 5-year survival was 61.6%. The average age was 68.8 years with a male-to-female ratio of 1.7:1. Macrohaematuria was the most frequent symptom, occurring in 77.7% of the patients. In 92.5% of the urothelial tumours the diagnosis was confirmed by intravenous pyelogram (IVP) and retrograde pyelography. Between grade G1 and G3 and stage pTa and pT3-4 a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) in the 5-year survival rate could be seen, as expected.