COVID-19: Delaying treatment of upper tract urothelial tumors for >3 months worsens outcomes

Prioritize the timely care of patients with upper tract urothelial tumors is important as many are delaying treatment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study that found delaying treatment by >3 months resulted in adverse outcomes in this group of patients.

In this nonsystematic review, manuscripts published until May 23, 2020 that mentioned “uppertract urothelial tumours,” “COVID-19,” and “nephroureterectomy” were reviewed to establish common criteria about the treatment and follow-up needed for these patients.

In total, 4 studies assed the impact of delaying radical nephrouretrectomy as curative treatment, which resulted in decreased overall survival and cancer specific survival rates in high-risk groups. In patients with predominately low-grade disease, delaying radical nephrouretrectomy due to ureteroscopy did not affect survival.

Reference
Galindo Herrero I, Pérez Fentes D, Ríos E, et al. [Current status for urpper tract transitional cell carcinoma during COVID-19 pandemia.]. Arch Esp Urol. 2020;73(5):384-389.