[Results of radiotherapy of ureteral obstruction in invasive bladder cancer].

Retrospective evaluation of the records of 574 patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer revealed 90 patients (16%) with ureteric obstruction; the obstruction was bilateral in 24%. The effect of radiotherapy was assessed in 55 patients with 68 obstructed kidneys. Six patients with eight obstructed kidneys required percutaneous nephrostomy or ureteric catheters in addition to radiotherapy. Drainage improved in only 20% of kidneys and the diverting catheter could be withdrawn permanently in only one (17%) of the diverted patients. The median survival was 11 months. Irradiation was followed by significant complications in 37 patients (67%). This raises doubts about the assumed beneficial effect of irradiation on ureteric obstruction due to muscle invasive bladder cancer. The short median survival of 11 months confirms that ureteric obstruction is a poor prognostic factor in muscle invasive bladder cancer.