Correlation Between the Timing of Diagnostic Ureteroscopy and Intravesical Recurrence in Upper Tract Urothelial Cancer.

Unlabelled: To identify the effects of diagnostic ureteroscopy on intravesical recurrence, 104 patients who had undergone radical nephroureterectomy were analyzed. The number of patients with intravesical recurrence was 34 (32.6%) at a mean of 37 months. Multivariate Cox model analysis revealed that delayed nephroureterectomy after diagnostic ureteroscopy were independent predictive factors for intravesical recurrence.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the timing of diagnostic ureteroscopy (URS) relative to radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) on intravesical recurrence (IVR).

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 104 patients who had undergone RNU for upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) at a single tertiary referral center between March 2003 and December 2012. All patients were divided depending on the timing of diagnostic URS: the no URS group (30 patients, no URS), 1-session group (33 patients, diagnostic URS immediately followed by RNU), and 2-session group (41 patients, RNU after diagnostic URS at a median time of 5 days). We analyzed for IVR-free survival using the Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional regression methods.

Results: Of the 104 patients, 34 (32.6%) developed subsequent IVR at a mean interval of 7.2 months. The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that the IVR rate was significantly greater in the 2-session group than in the other groups (P = .004). Univariate analysis indicated no effect on IVR in the 1-session group compared with the no URS group (hazard ratio [HR], 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58; 0.517-4.833). However, the 2-session group had a significantly greater number of patients with IVR than the no URS group (HR, 3.82; 95% CI 1.438-10.131). Multivariate Cox proportional analysis revealed that the 2-session group was an independent predictor of IVR in UTUC patients (HR, 3.61; 95% CI 1.039-12.557).

Conclusion: Delay of RNU after diagnostic URS significantly increased the risk of IVR in UTUC patients.