[Prognostic criteria in patients with renal pelvic and ureteral cancers--clinical value of volume weighted mean nuclear volume].

A retrospective, prognostic study was performed on 22 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract seen between Dec. 1982 and Jun. 1995. Unbiased estimates of volume weighted mean nuclear volume (MNV) were compared with age at the time of diagnosis, muscle invasion, and histological grading according to World Health Organization (WHO) classification on the prognostic value. Estimates of MNV were significantly correlated (p = 0.0135) only with disease-specific survival of transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract, contrary to age at the time of diagnosis (p = 0.4865), and muscle invasiveness (p = 0.1756). The analysis was not conclusive with regard to the WHO classification as the prognostic factor in this study. Estimates of MNV also were significantly correlated (p = 0.0325) with disease-specific survival in patients diagnosed histologically as grade 2. These findings indicate that estimates of MNV are useful for determining the prognosis of transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract.