What is urinary tract cancer?
Cancer of the urinary tract can develop in the cells that line the central urine collection area of the kidney (renal pelvis) and/or in the ducts that carry urine from the kidney to the bladder (ureters). The majority of renal pelvis and ureter cancer cases that occur each year are transitional cell carcinomas, which are similar in terms of biology to bladder cancer.
Symptomatology
The most typical symptom is the presence of blood in the urine (haematuria).
Treatment of urinary tract cancer
The most common treatment for urinary tract cancer is the surgical removal of the kidney and the ureter. This prevents the cancer from advancing and spreading to other surrounding structures.
At the Serrate & Ribal Institute we perform this surgical technique via laparoscopy, which greatly reduces surgery and hospitalisation times. In patients with less aggressive tumours or individuals with only one kidney (renal agenesis), there are alternatives such as conservative surgical treatment through endoscopy (ureteroscopy) that do not necessitate the removal of the kidney.