Survival of patients with tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter: a retrospective study.

A review of 27 patients with renal pelvic tumors and ureteral tumors admitted to the Tsukuba University Hospital was performed retrospectively. Nineteen cases of renal pelvic tumors and eleven cases of ureteral tumors were submitted to the study. These patients were treated mainly by surgery. The rates for 1-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year survival were 88.5%, 57.6%, 40.3% and 20.2%, respectively. No obvious relationship between prognosis of renal pelvic tumor and that of ureteral tumors was seen. Pathologically, there was a correlation between the grade and the stage of the tumor. Prognosis was related to the stage of the tumor, but not to the grade of the tumor. Clinically, the patients with positive urinary cytology had a poorer prognosis. It was considered that no relationship existed between the preoperative clinical stage and the postoperative pathological stage. Consequently, the former is not considered a prognostic factor. We have been performing mainly radical nephroureterectomy with regional lymphadenectomy since 1975. The patients who received the operation with regional lymphadenectomy since 1975. The patients who received the operation with regional lymphadenectomy or with adjuvant chemotherapy had a better prognosis. It is concluded that lymphadenectomy is a valuable operation for improving prognosis.