SURVIVAL AND QUALITY-OF-LIFE AFTER PERCUTANEOUS NEPHROSTOMY FOR MALIGNANT URETERAL OBSTRUCTION IN PATIENTS WITH TERMINAL CERVICAL-CANCER

We describe 24 consecutive patients with cervical cancer stage III or IV who received palliative urinary diversion by percutaneous nephrosto my. All patients had proven malignant ureteric obstruction, uremia and failed ureteric stenting. 11 of 17 patients with extensive primary ca ncer and local lymph node involvement had an acceptable quality of lif e for 2 or more months while the mean survival was 5.6 months. Patient s with disseminated metastasizing cancer were not satisfactorily serve d by nephrostomy.