[Urachal carcinoma: experience of a clinical center within 30 years].

OBJECTIVE: To summarize more than thirty years of experience with urachal carcinoma and to discuss the clinical features of urachal carcinoma. METHODS: The clinical data of 22 patients with urachal carcinoma, 18 males and 4 females, their median age at diagnosis was 52 years (range: 31-77 years), were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Twenty-one cases were urachal adenocarcinoma, and 1 was small cell carcinoma. The first common symptom was gross hematuria in the urachal carcinoma patients (20/22, 90.9%), and CT showed calcification in 18.75% of them (3/16). The cystoscopic finding was a mass seen at the dome of the bladder or anterior wall in all. Twenty cases were followed up (90.9%), with the median follow-up 28 months (range: 3-184 months). The overall 5-year cancer-specific survival rate was 49.5%. It was significantly different in survival between T2 and T3 or more in the urachal carcinoma patients by survival analysis (P=0.026). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the most important predictor of prognosis is tumor stage, and it is critical for diagnosis of urachal carcinoma by CT scan and cystoscopy. Extended partial cystectomy is the main surgery of patients with urachal carcinoma. Active multimodal treatments may improve the survival of patients with recurrent and metastatic disease.