Monitoring of the upper urinary tract in patients with bladder cancer

Abstract

Upper urinary tract (UUT) transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is relatively rare tumor. Approximately 0.7-4% of patients with primary bladder cancer develops UUT-TCC. The symptoms related to an UUT-TCC often occur with an advanced stage which leads one to emphasize a surveillance strategy to monitor the UUT to allow for an earlier diagnosis. Although the risk of UUT-TCC after bladder cancer is well established, there is a paucity of recommendations suggesting the optimal method and frequency of monitoring the UUT and there is no consensus among them. This article reviews the recommendations on monitoring the UUT in patients with bladder cancer.

Ureteral orifice involvement by urothelial carcinoma: long term oncologic and functional outcomes

“…The risk factors for UTUC in primary BC are strongly related to the primary tumor risk stratification, where the incidence is as low as 0.7% in the low-risk group, to as high as 24% in high-risk groups ( 16 ). Tumor grade, the presence of carcinoma in situ (CIS), tumor stage, and tumor multiplicity were the factors identified to have an association with the development of UTUC ( 11 , 16 , 17 ). Our result revealed an evidence for the significance of ureteral orifice involvement for further development of UTUC.…”

Risk factors for upper tract urothelial recurrence following local excision of bladder cancer

“…In patients with primary bladder cancer, the risk of UTUR is <4% 5, 6. It has been reported that the overall prevalence of transitional cell carcinoma within the upper tract urothelium following cystectomy ranged from 0.75% to 6.4% 3.…”