Li G et al. – Squamous differentiation in pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma was shown to be correlated with high risk of recurrence and poor prognosis as an independent prognostic factor.

Methods

• 1449 histologically confirmed pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma patients without histologic variants and 227 pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma patients with squamous differentiation were studied.
• All patients underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor and intravesical chemotherapy as initial treatment.

Results

• 14% of urothelial carcinoma patients were detected with squamous differentiation.
• The 5-year cancer-specific survival rates were 69% for squamous differentiation-positive patients and 91% for squamous differentiation-negative patients.
• Recurrence was more common in squamous differentiation-positive patients than -negative patients.
• Tumor size, lymphovascular invasion, recurrence, and squamous differentiation were shown to be prognostic factors for survival.