PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Khalid I. Alothman AU - Shahbaz Mehmood AU - Hassan M. Alzahrani AU - Mohammed F. Alotaibi AU - Waleed K. Alkhudair AU - Abdelmoneim M. Eldali TI - Surgical and oncological outcome after laparoscopic versus open nephroureterectomy for non-metastatic, upper-tract urothelial carcinoma AID - 10.15537/smj.2020.1.24780 DP - 2020 Jan 01 TA - Saudi Medical Journal PG - 25--33 VI - 41 IP - 1 4099 - http://smj.org.sa/content/41/1/25.short 4100 - http://smj.org.sa/content/41/1/25.full SO - Saudi Med J2020 Jan 01; 41 AB - Objectives: We determined the surgical and oncological outcomes of laparoscopic nephroureterectomy (LNU) in comparison to open nephroureterectomy (ONU) and factors predicting bladder recurrence after nephroureterectomy.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed and compared the data of patients who underwent ONU or LNU for non-metastatic, upper-tract urothelial carcinoma from 2000 to 2016. The primary endpoint was to determine bladder cancer recurrence-free survival (BCRFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS). The data were analysed using Student’s t-test, Chi-square test, and Kaplan-Meier curve.Results: Total of 50 patients, of which 24 had LNU and 26 had ONU, met the inclusion criteria. Median durations of follow-up were 4.2 and 6.5 years (p=0.1070) in LNU and ONU, respectively. Operative time, blood loss and hospital stay were significantly lower in the LNU group than in the ONU group (p=0.0001, p=0.0001, p=0.0018). Cancer-specific survival rate in the LNU was 75% and ONU was 73.3% (p=0.1902), whereas BCRFS and CSS were not significantly different in both groups (log-rank test; BCRFS: p=0.809 and CSS: p=0.802). Patients who underwent ureteroscopy with biopsy (p=0.001), had multifocality (p=0.001) and previous history of (H/O) bladder cancer (p=0.020) were at significant risk for developing bladder cancer recurrence after nephroureterectomy.Conclusion: Laparoscopic nephroureterectomy can benefit patients because of its minimal invasiveness, and oncologic outcomes are comparable to ONU. Preoperative ureteroscopy with biopsy, multifocality and previous H/O bladder cancer might be risk factors for bladder cancer recurrence.