Elective segmental ureterectomy for transitional cell carcinoma of the ureter: Long-term follow-up in a series of 73 patients

OBJECTIVES • To report the long-term oncological outcome in patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the ureter electively treated with kidney-sparing surgery. • To compare our data with the few series reported in the literature. PATIENTS AND METHODS • We considered 73 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the distal ureter treated in five Italian Departments of Urology. • The following surgeries were carried out: 38 reimplantations on psoas hitch bladder (52%), 21 end-to-end anastomoses (28.8%), 11 direct ureterocystoneostomies (15.1%) and three reimplantations on Boari flap bladder (4.1%). • The median follow-up was 87 months. RESULTS • Tumours were pTa in 42.5% of patients, pT1 in 31.5%, pT2 in 17.8% and pT3 in 8.2%. • Recurrence of bladder urothelial carcinoma was found in 10 patients (13.7%) after a median time of 28 months. • The bladder recurrence-free survival at 5 years was 82.2%. • The overall survival at 5 years was 85.3% and the cancer-specific survival rate at 5 years was 94.1%. CONCLUSION • Our data show that segmental ureterectomy procedures do not result in worse cancer control compared with data in the literature regarding nephroureterectomy. © 2012 The Authors.