Clinical, demographic and histopathological prognostic factors for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder

INTRODUCTION Our aim is to evaluate the influence of clinical and histopathological parameters, including age, gender, tumor stage, grade, tumor differentiation, necrosis, lymphovascular/perineural invasion (LVI/PNI) and concomitant carcinoma in situ (CIS), on outcomes of patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB). MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 84 patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) (n = 11) and radical cystoprostatectomy (n = 73) for muscle-invasive bladder cancer at our hospital between 2007-2013, were included in the study. RESULTS The mean age of patients at diagnosis was 66.1, of whom 75 were males and 9 were females. Of the 84 patients, 38 were ≤65 years and 46 were >65 years. Mean tumor diameter was 3.66 cm. There were 38 cases which showed divergent differentiations. Concomitant CIS was observed in 30 tumors, 41 cases showed tumor necrosis, 44 PNI and 61 LVI. The rate of overall survival (OS) in patients aged ≤65 years was statistically significantly higher than in those aged >65 years. A negative statistical relationship was found between OS with lymph node metastasis (LNM) and tumor differentiation. On the other hand, necrosis did not remain significant on multivariate analysis. No statistically significant relationship was found between smoking, tumor stage, PNI, LVI and concomitant CIS and OS. CONCLUSIONS In this study, advanced age, LNM, tumor differentiation were found to be independent prognostic risk factors associated with OS after RC. These additional factors, which may explain the different clinical course in patients with similar tumor stage and lymph node status, should be taken into consideration in treatment planning.