Pattern of intravesical recurrence after surgical treatment for urothelial cancer of the upper urinary tract: a single institutional retrospective long-term follow-up study.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the risk of intravesical recurrence in patients with primary urothelial cancer of the upper urinary tract.
METHODS: Ninety patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy for clinically localized urothelial cancer of the upper urinary tract were initially considered. Those with a previous and/or concomitant history of bladder cancer, and those who had previously received systemic chemotherapy were excluded. Overall, data from 60 patients with no evidence of bladder cancer and distant or lymph node metastasis were retrospectively reviewed. The clinical course and the risk pattern of intravesical recurrence were estimated by using a smoothing technique on estimated hazard function plots. Multivariate analysis was carried out using a Cox proportional hazards regression model.
RESULTS: Mean patient age was 64.7 years. Median follow up was 51.3 months. Thirty patients (50%) had intravesical recurrence during the follow-up period. The peak of intravesical recurrence was detected in the early period (less than 2.5 years) after surgery. The intravesical recurrence hazard became lower afterwards. Nevertheless, it persisted over a long period of time. On univariate and multivariate analyses, none of the clinical or pathological parameters had a statistically significant impact on intravesical recurrence.
CONCLUSIONS: Even if an intravesical recurrence in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial cancer is more likely in the early period, it persists over a long period of time. This might reflect different mechanisms of recurrence, having a significant impact on the definition of the optimal treatment and follow-up schedules.