Surveillance after treatment for upper tract transitional cell carcinoma

With increasing use of minimally invasive, endoscopic treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma, the detection and treatment of the frequent recurrences is of critical importance. Much like the surveillance of patients following the transurethral resection of bladder cancer, endoscopic inspection is the most sensitive method for earlier detection of tumor and in our opinion the cornerstone of appropriate surveillance. Though there are no clinical trials comparing surveillance protocols, there are broad suggestions from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the European Association of Urology that we review. We propose a simple surveillance protocol for these patients, and review the key features of diagnostic ureteroscopy technique.