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The Role of Extensive Lymphadenectomy in Upper Tract Malignant Disease

  • Urosurgery (A Stenzl, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Upper tract malignancies represent an estimated 5 %–10 % of urothelial cancers, with roughly 3,000 new cases per year in the United States. These tumors often present at an advanced stage, with invasion and lymph node metastases. There are no large randomized prospective studies demonstrating the benefit of lymph node dissection in upper tract urothelial cancer, and as such, definitive guidelines on the surgical template and timing are lacking. Laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgical techniques are well-established for nephroureterectomy, but are also emerging for retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. The treatment of these tumors still needs to be tailored based on patient and tumor characteristics. The purpose of our review is to update findings on the utility, techniques, and outcomes of lymphadenectomy for upper tract urothelial cancer.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Travis Pagliara, Dr. Andrew Nguyen, and Dr. Badrinath Konety each declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Travis Pagliara, Andrew Nguyen & Badrinath Konety

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  1. Travis Pagliara
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  2. Andrew Nguyen
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  3. Badrinath Konety
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Correspondence to Badrinath Konety.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Urosurgery

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Pagliara, T., Nguyen, A. & Konety, B. The Role of Extensive Lymphadenectomy in Upper Tract Malignant Disease. Curr Urol Rep 15, 452 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11934-014-0452-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11934-014-0452-z

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