Lymph node metastasis in patients with carcinomas of the renal pelvis and ureter.

OBJECTIVES

We evaluated the clinical significance of lymph node metastasis in patients with carcinomas of the renal pelvis and ureter.

METHODS

68 patients without distant metastasis were included in this study. Multivariate analysis by Cox's proportional hazards model was applied to detect the prognostic factor(s).

RESULTS

12 patients (17.6%) had nodal involvement. More than 10% of the patients with pT1-2 showed nodal metastasis. Preoperatively determined clinical factors were not a predictive factor for nodal involvement. Nodal metastasis was the only significant negative prognostic factor for patient survival by multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Lymph node dissection is valuable to predict the clinical outcome of the patients with carcinoma of the renal pelvis and ureter. Attention should be paid to nodal status to select patients for conservative surgery.