ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyse the clinicopathological features and discuss the diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of primary ureteral carcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and seventy four cases of primary ureteral carcinoma diagnosed pathologically between January 1971 and July 2002 in our institution were followed up and retrospectively studied.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The incidence of primary ureteral carcinoma was increasing during the last 30 years. The mean age of occurrence was 63.7 years. The most useful methods of detecting tumors preoperatively were retrograde urogram, CT, magnetic resonance urography and ureteroscopy, with positive percentage of 87.8% (86/98), 96.0% (48/50), 95.8% (23/24), 87.0% (20/23) respectively. 131 (75.3%) cases underwent nephroureterectomy with a cuff of bladder. 171 (98.3%) cases were transitional cell carcinoma. T(a-2) and G(1, 2) tumors account for 70% of all respectively. The 5 year and 10 year survival rates were 53.1% (52/98) and 30.5% (18/59) respectively. The subsequent bladder cancer occurred in 38 cases (23.8%), and the subsequent contralateral ureteral carcinoma occurred in 6 cases (3.8%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The prognosis of primary ureteral carcinoma is poor. Tumor stage and grade are both the prognostic factors. Precise preoperative diagnosis and more effective adjuvant therapy may improve the prognosis.</p>