Correlation between hydronephrosis, tumor diameter, and pathologic T stage of upper tract transitional cell carcinoma after nephroureterectomy

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between hydronephrosis, tumor diameter, and pT stage of upper tract transitional cell carcinoma. Material and Method: From October 2004 to December 2018, the medical records of 98 patients in Rajavithi Hospital who were diagnosed with renal pelvic (47 patients) and ureteral (51 patients) transitional cell carcinoma and treated with nephroureterectomy were retrospectively reviewed. Patient demographics, degree of hydronephrosis, tumor diameter from computed tomography, and pathologic report were collected. Data were analyzed to determine correlations. Results: In renal pelvic tumor, higher degree of hydronephrosis correlated with higher pT stage (p=0.022) but no significant difference was shown in ureteral tumor (p=0.352). For tumor diameter in both renal pelvis and ureter, there were no correlations with pT stage (p=0.128 and p=0.625). For tumor location, higher pT stage was more common in renal pelvic tumors (p=0.001) and high tumor grade correlated with high pT stage (p=0.037). Conclusion: In this study, there was significant correlation between the preoperative degree of hydronephrosis and pT stage in renal pelvic transitional cell carcinomas; however, none was found in ureteric tumors. The reason may be that smaller ureteric lumen caused early symptoms, which concerned patients.