Pattern of recurrence changes in noninvasive bladder tumors observed during 2 decades.
OBJECTIVE
Previously published data on the 25-year outcome of G1Ta and G2Ta bladder tumors demonstrated that both tumors have a similarly low risk of recurrence in cases in which no tumor was detected in the first 5 years after presentation. A further 4 prospectively maintained cohorts were available for comparison between institutions or across time periods.


METHODS
Review of a prospectively kept, computerized record of patients with bladder cancer allowed analysis of the long-term outcome of 4 further cohorts of bladder cancer presenting in 1978 to 1986 or 1991 to 1996.


RESULTS
A total of 325 patients with G1Ta and 190 with G2Ta bladder tumors had up to 25 years of followup. The risk of recurrence in the first 5 years was identical in all cohorts from the 1980s. However, in those patients without recurrence in the initial 5 years, the subsequent risk of recurrence (in G1 and G2Ta tumors) was 3.2% in the earlier cohorts but increased 3-fold to 10.8% in the cohorts from the early 1990s (RR 3.3, 95% CI 1.2-9.5, p=0.016).


CONCLUSIONS
A difference was observed in the pattern of late biopsy proven recurrence in the more contemporary cases. Increased use of prophylactic intravesical chemotherapy does not seem to be a strong factor. Changes in the ability to detect lesions and the readiness to biopsy suspicious lesions may be responsible for this difference.
Mariappan
Paramananthan
P
Department of Urology, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. param.mariappan@nhs.net
Smith
Gordon
G
Lamb
Alastair D G
AD
Grigor
Kenneth M
KM
Tolley
David A
DA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy