From March 01, 2001 to March 31, 2021, a total of 4016 patients with UTUC who undergo NU as the primary surgery were enrolled from the Taiwan UTUC Collaboration Group registry database for analysis. Patients with missing data on any of the variables for analysis were excluded (n = 2787). Patients younger than 18 years (n = 5), with end-stage renal disease prior to surgery (n = 156), who received kidney transplantation (n = 16), or had undergone NU previously (n = 10) were excluded. Patients who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) prior to surgery (n = 23) or who underwent bilateral NU simultaneously (n = 1) were also excluded from the study (Supplementary Figure S1).
Demographic data, including age, sex, comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or coronary artery disease), tumor site (right or left), location (renal pelvis only or ureter involvement), ipsilateral hydronephrosis (presence or absence), tumor focality (single or multiple), and tumor size, were collected. Ipsilateral hydronephrosis was defined as the hydronephrosis presenting on the same side as tumor involvement. Pathological tumor staging was recorded according to the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manual. Post-NU events such as sepsis or shock were also recorded (Table 1).
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