Significance of T stadium and grading as prognostic factors in transitional cell carcinoma of the ureter

Background: Surgery is nowadays the standard treatment for carcinoma of the ureter, even if adjuvant therapies can modify the prognosis in selected patients. Because of the small number of patients in the literature series, the significance of prognostic factors that can be used in clinical practice is still controversial, as is the choice of the most suitable surgical and adjuvant treatment. Patients and Methods: We considered 27 consecutive patients (Ta-T2 N0 M0) who underwent radical surgery (nephroureterectomy with bladder cuff excision and lymphoadenectomy) for transitional cell carcinoma of the ureter, from 1982 through 1992. Seven patients (25.9%) had Ta tumors, 7 patients (25.9%) had T1 tumors and 13 patients (48.2%) had T2 tumors. In 4 cases (14.8%) the tumor was well-differentiated (G1), in 14 cases (51.8%) it was mildly-differentiated (G2), and in 9 cases (33.4%) it was poorly-differentiated. Results: Thirteen of the 14 patients affected by Ta-T1 tumors were alive 10 years after surgery (one patient lost at follow-up); in the T2 tumor group the 5-year survival rate was 84.6% and 10-year survival rate was 69.2%. According to grading, the 10-year survival rate was 100% for G1 tumors, the 3, 5 and 10-year survival rates were, respectively, 100%, 92.8% and 92.8% for G2 tumors, and 92.8%, 85.7% and 78.6% for G3 tumors. Conclusion: Data from our study show the significance of the T stage and grading as prognostic factors.