Late recurrence and progression in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancers after 5-year tumor-free periods.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the recurrence and progression in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors who remained tumor-free for at least 5 years, which should assist in the development of schedules of their follow-up evaluations. Non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors that recur or progress at a late time point are not rare.


METHODS
Between 1985 and 2002, 814 cases diagnosed with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer were treated with transurethral resection. Of these 814 cases, 262 patients with no tumor recurrence for more than 5 years were included in the study. The median follow-up interval was 10.0 years.


RESULTS
During the follow-up period, 39 tumors (14.9%) showed tumor recurrence. The 5- and 10-year recurrence-free survival rates were 81.6% and 76.0%, respectively. There was no significant difference in tumor recurrence among the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups based on the current clinical guideline. Only the use of intravesical mitomycin C was determined to be a significant unfavorable risk factor for late recurrence. Five patients (1.9%) experienced stage progression, 3 of whom did not have metastases at the time of diagnosis of the progression but died because of bladder cancer disease.


CONCLUSIONS
After a 5-year tumor-free period, even in the low-risk group, recurrence occurred at a late time point to a degree that was the same as that for the intermediate- and high-risk groups. Finally, some of the high-risk patients experienced late progression with a high degree of malignant behavior, suggesting longer follow-up is needed for each patient.
Matsumoto
Kazuhiro
K
Department of Urology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Kikuchi
Eiji
E
Horiguchi
Yutaka
Y
Tanaka
Nobuyuki
N
Miyajima
Akira
A
Nakagawa
Ken
K
Nakashima
Jun
J
Oya
Mototsugu
M
D000283:Administration, Intravesical; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015653:Cystectomy / Q000379:methods; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011336:Probability; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D014521:Urethra / Q000601:surgery; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult