Abstract This study was designed to evaluate the impact of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) history on prognosis in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) receiving intravesical chemotherapy. We conducted a single center, retrospective, cohort study of 444 NMIBC patients who received intravesical chemotherapy after transurethral resection of the bladder cancer (TURBT) at Peking University People’s Hospital from 2000 to 2015. Patients were divided into UTUC-NMIBC group (with UTUC history) and primary NMIBC group (without UTUC history) by presence of previous UTUC. Demographic, clinical and pathologic factors were analyzed. Kaplan–Meier curves and the log-rank test were used to depict and compare recurrence-free survival (RFS) and progression-free survival (PFS) between the two groups. Multivariable Cox regression models were constructed to determine the variables associated with RFS and PFS. Compared to the primary NMIBC group (n = 410), the UTUC-NMIBC group (n = 34) had an older median age [72.0 (65.0–81.0) vs. 66.0 (58–75) years; P = 0.007], a higher incidence of multiple tumors (52.9% vs. 33.9%; P = 0.026) and a higher recurrence rate (52.9% vs. 30.7%; P = 0.008) and worse RFS (P