European Association of Urology Guidelines on Upper Urinary Tract Urothelial Carcinoma: 2017 Update

Context: The European Association of Urology (EAU) Guidelines Panel on Upper Urinary Tract Urothelial Carcinoma (UTUC) has prepared updated guidelines to aid clinicians in the current evidence-based management of UTUC and to incorporate recommendations into clinical practice.

Objective: To provide an overview of the EAU guidelines on UTUC as an aid to clinicians.

Evidence acquisition: The recommendations provided in the current guidelines are based on a thorough review of available UTUC guidelines and articles identified following a systematic search of Medline. Data on urothelial malignancies and UTUC were searched using the following keywords: urinary tract cancer; urothelial carcinomas; upper urinary tract, carcinoma; renal pelvis; ureter; bladder cancer; chemotherapy; ureteroscopy; nephroureterectomy; adjuvant treatment; instillation; recurrence; risk factors; and survival. References were weighted by a panel of experts.

Evidence synthesis: Owing to the rarity of UTUC, there are insufficient data to provide strong recommendations (ie, grade A). However, the results of recent multicentre studies are now available, and there is a growing number of retrospective articles in UTUC. The 2017 tumour, node, metastasis (TNM) classification is recommended. Recommendations are given for diagnosis and risk stratification, as well as for radical and conservative treatment; prognostic factors are also discussed. A single postoperative dose of intravesical mitomycin after radical nephroureterectomy reduces the risk of bladder tumour recurrence. Kidney-sparing management should be offered as a primary treatment option to patients with low-risk tumours and two functional kidneys.

Conclusions: These guidelines contain information on the management of individual patients according to a current standardised approach. Urologists should take into account the specific clinical characteristics of each patient when determining the optimal treatment regimen, based on the proposed risk stratification of these tumours.

Patient summary: Urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract is rare, but because 60% of these tumours are invasive at diagnosis; appropriate diagnosis and management is most important. We present recommendations based on current evidence for optimal management.