Superficial transitional (Ta/T1/CIS) cell carcinoma of the bladder

The role of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in patients with pTa non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

Introduction: The peritumoral inflammatory reaction has a substantial importance in the oncologic outcome of bladder cancer (BC). One biomarker proven to be practical and accessible is the NLR (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio) for high risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). The aim of the study was to investigate the role of NLR as a prognostic biomarker for disease recurrence, progression and survival of p Ta (pathological assesment of the primary tumor) NMIBC.

Material and Methods: In our retrospective study we included 54 patients with pTa NMIBC from a total of 235 patients who underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) during two consecutive years: January 2007 - December 2008 [median follow-up 106 months (interquartile range-IQR 68-116)]. Criteria for inclusion were: primary tumor, low-grade, with NLR available at 2 weeks prior to TURBT. NLR was considered altered if higher than 3.

Results: The median age of the patients included was 63 years (IQR 55 - 72). Most of the patients had NLR---lt---3 (37 patients). Median EORTC (European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer) Recurrence Score was 4 (IQR 1-6), while EORTC Progression Score was 3 (IQR 0-6), respectively. Recurrence occurred in 8 out of 54 (14.81 %) patients and progression was identified in 2 out of 54 (3.70 %) patients with muscle-invasive BC during follow-up. NLR---gt---3 was not associated with clinical and pathological factors. In multivariable Cox regression analyses NLR as a continuous variable was an independent predictive factor for recurrence. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) Kaplan-Meier analysis did not show a statistical significance between NLR groups: 82.67% vs. 64.12%, p=0.26. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a lower Progression-free survival (PFS) in the NLR---gt---3 group: 94.12% vs. 100%, p=0.04. During follow-up (106 months) 18 patients deceased with no impact of NLR as a prognostic factor in multivariable analyses. Kaplan-Meier overall survival (OS) analysis showed a 10-year OS of 70.27% in the low NLR group compared with 58.82% in the high NLR group, p=0.45.

Conclusion: In this cohort, high NLR was associated with high recurrence rate in patients with Ta NMIBC. In low-risk NMIBC NLR could represent a valid biomarker for clinical usage regarding the intensity of follow-up schedule.

Predicting recurrence of nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (Ta-T1): A study based on 477 patients

The aim of this study was to determine clinical recrudescent risk factors of 477 patients with newly discovered nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) (Ta-T1) in our hospital, and based on these factors, to establish a recurrence risk prediction model of each NMIBC patient.This study included 477 patients with newly discovered NMIBC (Ta-T1) from January 2012 to December 2016; all patients were treated surgically by transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT). The outcomes of patients were with or without recurrence within 2 years. The nomograms were based on Cox regression analyses, and the calibration curves were founded to evaluate the agreements of the predicted probability with the actual observed probability.Of the 477 patients with NMIBC, 392 were males (82.2%) and 85 were females (17.8%), with median age 64 years. Recurrence was identified in 327 cases (68.6%). The results showed that old age, female sex, smoking history, large size of tumor, multifocal tumors, high grade, and high stage are risk factors for NMIBC recurrence, whereas no significant association was seen between tumor location and recurrence in our study. Based on the results of Cox regression analyses, several independent risk factors, including smoking history, tumor size, multifocal, immediate infusion therapy, T stage, and tumor grade, were used to establish a nomogram to calculate the recurrence probability of each NMIBC patient, and the calibration curve displayed that this nomogram had a great value of prediction.Old age, female sex, smoking history, large size of tumor, multifocal tumors, high grade, and high stage are risk factors for NMIBC recurrence, whereas immediate infusion therapy is a protective factor. And a nomogram was established as a prediction model to calculate the recurrence probability of NMIBC patients.

Prognostic Significance of VEGF after Twenty-Year Follow-up in a Randomized Trial of Fenretinide in Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) may progress to muscle-invasive disease, but no effective preventive treatments are available. In addition, no reliable prognostic biomarkers have been identified. We assessed the long-term effect of the oral retinoid fenretinide and the prognostic value of circulating VEGF levels. We updated through the Tumor Registry the vital status of 99 patients with resected Ta/T1 bladder tumors who were recruited in a randomized trial of 2 years of fenretinide or no treatment in 1993-1994. Serum VEGF levels measured at baseline and 12 months were available in a subgroup of 62 patients. After a median of 20.5 years, 54 subjects died, 35 of any cancer and 14 of bladder cancer. Neither overall survival (OS), nor cancer survival (CS) or bladder cancer survival (BCS) was affected by fenretinide (log-rank P ≥ 0.2). DNA aneuploidy in bladder washing was associated with shorter OS (P = 0.02), CS (P = 0.05), and BCS (P = 0.09). Subjects with baseline VEGF levels in the top quintile (≥350 pg/mL) had a significantly shorter OS (P = 0.01), CS (P = 0.02), and BCS (P = 0.008). The trend across quintiles of VEGF was significant for BCS (P = 0.007). Multivariate analyses showed that, in addition to smoking status, VEGF level in the top quintile was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR = 2.7; 95% CI, 1.1-6.5), CS (HR = 3.3; 95% CI, 1.1-9.4) and BCS (HR = 8.9; 95% CI,1.3-61). Fenretinide did not affect the long-term outcome of patients with NMIBC. High serum VEGF level was a significant predictor of overall and cancer death and may help to identify high-risk subjects who may benefit from a preventive therapy. Cancer Prev Res; 9(6); 437-44. ©2016 AACR.

Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer risk stratification

INTRODUCTION

Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) comprises about 70% of all newly diagnosed bladder cancer, and includes tumors with stage Ta, T1 and carcinoma in situ (CIS.) Since, NMIBC patients with progression to muscle-invasive disease tend to have worse prognosis than with patients with primary muscle-invasive disease, there is a need to significantly improve risk stratification and earlier definitive treatment for high-risk NMIBC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A detailed Medline search was performed to identify all publications on the topic of prognostic factors and risk predictions for superficial bladder cancer/NMIBC. The manuscripts were reviewed to identify variables that could predict recurrence and progression.

RESULTS

The most important prognostic factor for progression is grade of tumor. T category, tumor size, number of tumors, concurrent CIS, intravesical therapy, response to bacillus Calmette-Guerin at 3- or 6-month follow-up, prior recurrence rate, age, gender, lymphovascular invasion and depth of lamina propria invasion are other important clinical and pathological parameters to predict recurrence and progression in patients with NMIBC. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the Spanish Club UrológicoEspañol de Tratamiento Oncológico (CUETO) risk tables are the two best-established predictive models for recurrence and progression risk calculation, although they tend to overestimate risk and have poor discrimination for prognostic outcomes in external validation. Molecular biomarkers such as Ki-67, FGFR3 and p53 appear to be promising in predicting recurrence and progression but need further validation prior to using them in clinical practice.

CONCLUSION

EORTC and CUETO risk tables are the two best-established models to predict recurrence and progression in patients with NMIBC though they tend to overestimate risk and have poor discrimination for prognostic outcomes in external validation. Future research should focus on enhancing the predictive accuracy of risk assessment tools by incorporating additional prognostic factors such as depth of lamina propria invasion and molecular biomarkers after rigorous validation in multi-institutional cohorts.

The effect of Glutathione-S-transferases in the susceptibility to bladder cancer

BACKGROUND

Urinary bladder cancer is a quite common cancer type in men and women all over the world. Genetic polymorphisms of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes could increase individual susceptibility to various cancer types.

AIMS

The aim of our study is to evaluate the rate of these polymorphisms in a group of patients from Central Anatolia.

METHODS

Our study subjects consist of 65 men with histopathologically confirmed bladder TCC and 70 cancer-free control subjects. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method was used for the detection of polymorphisms of GSTT1 and GSTM1.

RESULTS

There was no association between bladder cancer and GSTM1 polymorphism (ORs = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.32-1.29), but the probability of bladder cancer in patients with GSTT1 null genotype (67.9%), was significantly higher from the probability of bladder cancer with GSTT1 normal genotype (43.0%) statistically (ORs = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.16-6.75).

CONCLUSION

Polymorphisms of these genes have been assessed to evaluate the relative risk of various cancers. Our intention is to continue this study with larger series of bladder cancer patients in a group of Turkish population from Central Anatolia.

Incidence and predictors of understaging in patients with clinical T1 urothelial carcinoma undergoing radical cystectomy

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate predictors of understaging in patients with presumed non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) identified on transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) with attention to the role of a restaging TURBT.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated 279 consecutive patients with clinically staged T1 (cT1) disease after TURBT who underwent RC at our institution from April 2000 to July 2011. In all, 60 of these cT1 patients had undergone a restaging TURBT before RC. The primary outcome measure was pathological staging of ≥T2 disease at the time of RC.

RESULTS

In all, 134 (48.0%) patients were understaged. Of the 60 patients who remained cT1 after a restaging TURBT, 28 (46.7%) were understaged. Solitary tumour (odds ratio [OR] 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25-0.76, P = 0.004) and fewer prior TURBTs (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.71-1.00, P = 0.05) were independent risk factors for understaging.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the overall improvement in staging accuracy linked to restaging TURBTs, the risk of clinical understaging remains high in restaged patients found to have persistent T1 urothelial carcinoma who undergo RC. Solitary tumour and fewer prior TURBTs are independent risk factors for being understaged. Incorporating these predictors into preoperative risk stratification may allow for augmented identification of those patients with clinical NMIBC who stand to benefit most from RC.

Urinary protein profiling by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry: ADAM28 is overexpressed in bladder transitional cell carcinoma

Bladder cancer is the most common urological cancer with higher incidence rate in the endemic areas of Blackfoot disease (BFD) in southern Taiwan. The aim of this study was to utilize the proteomic approach to establish urinary protein patterns of bladder cancer. The experimental results showed that most patients with bladder cancer had proteinuria or albuminuria. The urine arsenic concentrations of bladder cancer patients in BFD areas were significantly higher than those patients from non-BFD areas. In the proteomic analysis, the urinary proteome was identified by nano-high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (nano-HPLC/ESI-MS/MS) followed by peptide fragmentation pattern analysis. We categorized 2782 unique proteins of which 89 proteins were identified with at least three unique matching peptide sequences. Among these 89 proteins, thirteen of them were not found in the control group and may represent proteins specific for bladder cancer. In this study, three proteins, SPINK5, ADAM28 and PTP1, were also confirmed by Western blotting and showed significant differential expression compared with the control group. ADAM28 may be used as a possible biomarker of bladder cancer.

Management of BCG non-responders with fixed dose intravesical gemcitabine in superficial transitional cell carcinoma of urinary bladder

Aims and Objectives:

The incidence of bladder malignancy is increasing worldwide and the projected rise is 28% by 2010 for both sexes (WHO). Though intravesical adjuvant therapy with BCG is superior to any other immunotherapeutic/chemotherapeutic agent in reducing tumor recurrences and disease progression, its real efficacy remains controversial as one-third of the patients will soon become BCG failure. Hence there is a need for an alternative intravesical agent for treatment of BCG failure. Our aim was to study the efficacy, tolerability and safety of intravesical Gemcitabine in managing BCG-refractory superficial bladder malignancy.

Materials and Methods:

Thirty-five BCG failure patients, 26 males and nine females between 20-72 years of age were instilled with 2000 mg of Gemcitabine in 50 ml of normal saline intravesically two weeks post tumor resection, for six consecutive weeks. Mean follow-up was for 18 months with cystoscopies.

Results:

Twenty-one patients (60%) showed no recurrences, 11 patients (31.4%) had superficial recurrences while three patients (8.6%) progressed to muscle invasiveness. Average time to first recurrence was 12 months and to disease progression was 16 months. Adverse event was low and mild. Therapy was well tolerated.

Conclusion:

Gemcitabine fulfils all requirements as an alternative agent, in treating BCG failure patients with low adverse events, is well tolerated and highly effective in reducing tumor recurrences.

The effects of intravesical chemoimmunotherapy with gemcitabine and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin in superficial bladder cancer: a preliminary study

This prospective study investigated the long-term effects of intravesical chemoimmunotherapy with gemcitabine (GEM) and bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG; n = 36) versus BCG alone (n = 51) for the treatment of superficial bladder cancer. For the chemoimmunotherapy (GEM + BCG) group, GEM (1000 mg) was instilled immediately after transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) and again (2000 mg) 1 week later. From 2 to 7 weeks after TURBT, BCG was instilled into the bladder of all patients once weekly. The recurrence-free period of the GEM + BCG group (24.13 months) was significantly longer than that of the BCG monotherapy group (19.81 months). The overall recurrence rate was similar between the groups, although at 6 and 9 months post-TURBT, GEM + BCG produced a significantly lower rate of recurrence compared with BCG alone. This study suggests that intravesical chemoimmunotherapy with GEM + BCG is effective in reducing early tumour recurrence and in prolonging the recurrence-free period of superficial bladder cancer.

Urinary fibronectin as a predictor of a residual tumour load after transurethral resection of bladder transitional cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the level of urinary fibronectin predicts the residual tumour load after transurethral resection (TUR) of bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Urine samples were collected from 167 consecutive patients with suspected bladder cancer admitted for TUR. Samples were taken both before and after surgery. Bladder tumour fibronectin (BTF) was analysed using a solid-phase chemiluminescent immunometric test. Creatinine in urine was also determined and the BTF/creatinine ratio calculated.

RESULTS

Patients were divided into a control group of 41 whose previous diagnosis was negative for BT and another of 126 with a positive diagnosis for BT, which was further subdivided into those with and without residual tumour, according to findings from specimens obtained during the second procedure (repeat TUR or cystectomy). After the second procedure, 68 patients (56%) had no residual tumour, whereas 54 (44%) did. Four patients with BT who did not have the second procedure were excluded from the study. The median BTF and BTF/creatinine value in the control group was 33.2 microg/L and 51.4 microg/g, respectively, before the first TUR, and 29.6 microg/L and 46.7 microg/g, respectively, after the first TUR. There were no statistically significant changes in BTF and BTF/creatinine ratio (P = 0.61 and 0.79, respectively). In the group with TCC, the BTF decreased from 211.9 to 97.3 microg/L (P = 0.02) and the BTF/creatinine ratio from 281.6 to 146.5 microg/g (P = 0.009) for those with residual tumour, while it decreased from 195.1 to 34.0 microg/L (P = 0.007) and the BTF/creatinine ratio decreased from 249.1 to 53.7 microg/g (P = 0.003) for those with no residual tumour. After initial TUR, the patients with residual tumour had significantly greater levels of BTF and BTF/creatinine than did those with no residual tumour (P = 0.004 and 0.006, respectively). The receiver operating characteristic curves showed an optimum threshold of 67.8 microg/L and 81.3 microg/g for BTF and the BTF/creatinine in detecting residual tumour, respectively, with a sensitivity of 91.4% and 89.0%, respectively, and a specificity of 87.8% and 85.6%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Urinary fibronectin, in addition to being one of the best markers for diagnosing bladder carcinoma, can be used to determine the presence of residual tumour load after TUR of bladder TCC.

Intravesicle gemcitabine in management of BCG refractory superficial TCC of urinary bladder-our experience

INTRODUCTION

The incidence of bladder malignancy is increasing worldwide and the projected rise is 28% by 2010 for both sexes (according to the WHO). Though intravesical adjuvant therapy with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is superior to any other immunotherapeutic/chemotherapeutic agent in reducing tumor recurrences and disease progression, its real efficacy remains controversial as one-third of the patients will soon develop BCG failure. Hence, there is a need for an alternative intravesical agent for treatment of BCG failure. Our aim is to study the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of intravesical gemcitabine in managing BCG refractory superficial bladder malignancy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Thirty-five BCG failure patients, 26 males and 9 females between 20 and 72 years of age were instilled 2000 mg of gemcitabine in 50 ml of normal saline intravesically 2 weeks post-tumor resection, for 6 consecutive weeks. Mean follow-up for 18 months with cystoscopy was done.

RESULT

Twenty-one patients (60%) showed no recurrences, 11 patients (31.4%) had superficial recurrences, while 3 patients (8.75%) progressed to muscle invasiveness. Average time to first recurrence was 12 months and to disease progression was 16 months. Adverse event was low and mild. Therapy was well tolerated.

CONCLUSION

Gemcitabine fulfills all requirements as an alternative agent in treating BCG failure patients with low adverse events, well tolerated, and highly effective in reducing tumor recurrences.

Prognostic Effect of DNA Aneuploidy from Bladder Washings in Superficial Bladder Cancer

BACKGROUND

Superficial (papillary) bladder cancer is associated with progression and death from muscle-invasive bladder cancer, but no reliable predictors of the outcomes have been identified.

METHODS

We analyzed the long-term prognostic effect of DNA flow cytometry in bladder washings from 93 subjects with previously resected T(a) and T(1) bladder tumors who participated in a chemoprevention trial of the synthetic retinoid fenretinide. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression were used to determine the prognostic effect of DNA aneuploidy on cancer progression and mortality in conjunction with conventional clinical factors after a median of 11.5 years (interquartile range, 9.5-11.7 years).

RESULTS

Overall, 58 of 93 (62%) specimens were DNA aneuploid at baseline. Progression-free survival was significantly shorter in subjects with stage T(1) [hazard ratio (HR), 31.6; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 2.6-386.1; P < 0.001] and in subjects with baseline DNA aneuploid washing (HR, 10.5; 95% CI, 1.1-126.1; P = 0.03). The risk of death was also greater for stage T(1) tumors (HR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.04-6.7; P = 0.04). DNA aneuploidy was a significant prognostic factor also for overall survival (HR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.0-9.0; P = 0.05). Fenretinide treatment had no significant effect on cancer progression and death.

CONCLUSIONS

DNA aneuploidy in washings from endoscopically normal bladder is a significant predictor of progression and death in addition to tumor stage. This biomarker may help to identify and monitor a high-risk group who may benefit from a chemoprevention intervention.

Can Restaging Transurethral Resection of T1 Bladder Cancer Select Patients for Immediate Cystectomy?

PURPOSE

We determined whether pathological findings on restaging transurethral resection predict early stage progression of T1 bladder cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cohort of 352 patients presenting with T1 bladder cancer on initial transurethral resection was evaluated by second or restaging transurethral resection. All patients received bacillus Calmette-Guerin therapy and 88% were followed for 5 years. Pathological findings on restaging transurethral resection were correlated with tumor features, stage progression frequency and progression-free survival.

RESULTS

Of the 352 patients with T1 tumors 203 (58%) had residual tumor on restaging transurethral resection, including 92 (26%) with residual nonmuscle invasive (T1) cancer. During 5 years 66% of cases recurred and 35% progressed in stage. Of the 92 patients with residual T1 cancer 75 (82%) progressed to muscle invasion within 5 years compared to 49 of 260 (19%) who had no or nonT1 tumor detected on restaging transurethral resection.

CONCLUSIONS

Restaging transurethral resection identifies patients with T1 bladder cancer who are at high risk for early tumor progression, justifying immediate cystectomy.

Clinico-pathological features of bladder carcinoma: Experience from a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan

Bladder carcinoma is most common urological malignancy in Pakistan. The objective of the study was to determine the clinico-pathological characteristics of histologically confirmed bladder carcinoma at a tertiary care hospital of South Punjab, Pakistan.

METHODS

In two hundreds and twenty one patients (172 male and 49 female) bladder carcinoma was diagnosed from Jan 1998 to June 2005. All patients were evaluated with regards to clinical presentation, cystoscopic findings and histo-pathological data.

RESULTS

Male female ratio was 3.5:1. The median age was 58 years (range 18-87 years). 65% men had history of cigarette smoking while 51% women had long history of smokeless tobacco (nasal snuff or chewable) use. Most patients presented with painless hematuria. Primary transitional cell carcinoma was the most common (i.e. 96%) histological variety of bladder carcinoma. 63% patients had muscle invasive disease at the time of presentation. Even in superficial bladder carcinoma, most patients had invasion of lamina propria (pT1 disease).

CONCLUSION

More than 90% of primary bladder carcinoma are of transitional cell variety and over 60% having muscle invasive disease at the time of diagnosis. Even in patients with superficial disease, majority (i.e. 98%) have invasion of lamina propria.

A re-staging transurethral resection predicts early progression of superficial bladder cancer

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether pathology on a re-staging transurethral resection (TUR) predicts the early progression of superficial bladder cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In all, 710 patients presenting with multiple superficial bladder cancers were evaluated by re-staging TUR and followed for 5 years. Tumours were classified by stage as confined to mucosa (Ta) or invading submucosa (T1), and by grade (low- or high-grade). Pathology on re-staging TUR was correlated with the endpoints of tumour recurrence and stage progression.

RESULTS

Of the 710 patients, 490 (69%) had a recurrence and 149 (21%) progressed over 5 years. Eighty patients had high-grade invasive (T1G3) cancer on re-staging TUR and 61 (76%) progressed to muscle invasion (median time to progression 15 months), compared with 88 of 630 (14%) who had no evidence of tumour (T0) or other than T1 tumours detected on re-staging TUR.

CONCLUSION

A re-staging TUR identifies patients with superficial bladder cancer who are at high risk of early tumour progression.

Actual experience and future development of gemcitabine in superficial bladder cancer

Gemcitabine has a molecular weight of 299 D, lower than that of commonly-used intravesical chemotherapeutic agents such as mitomycin C (389 D) and doxorubicin (589 D). This may enable gemcitabine to penetrate the bladder mucosa with beneficial effects in the treatment of early invasive bladder cancer (T1 disease). At the same time the molecular weight is high enough to prevent significant systemic absorption in an intact bladder. Based on the results of phase I studies, it appears that the 2000 mg dose of gemcitabine in 50/100 ml normal saline when administered intravesically for up to 2 h once a week for 6 weeks has unremarkable systemic and local side effects and therefore should be considered the most convenient schedule. The currently available phase II studies have assessed the activity of intravesical gemcitabine on a marker lesion in intermediate risk superficial bladder cancers (SBC), showing complete responses in up to 56% of cases. Few attempts have been made to test the activity of intravesical gemcitabine in high risk SBC achieving unexpected complete responses in BCG refractory CIS. Gemcitabine seems to have fulfilled the requirements to be a promising new candidate for standard intravesical therapy in SBC so far. Further phase II trials exploring the activity of gemcitabine on highly-recurrent intermediate risk or high risk SBC would provide additional information to foresee its efficacy in clinical practice and thus constitute the framework for large comparative phase III trials.

Differential detection of S100A8 in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder by pair wise tissue proteomic and immunohistochemical analysis

The search for novel molecular markers of tumor invasion is vital if strategies are to become more effective in the diagnostic and prognostic management of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Up to 50% of tumors detected at stage 1 (pT1) progress to a higher grade even after endoscopic surgical resection, and there are currently no protein markers of this aggressive, invasive phenotype. We have combined SELDI-TOF-MS, ClinProt magnetic bead enrichment, Nano-LC-ESI-ion trap tandem mass spectrometry and immunohistochemical analysis to the study of 12 invasive bladder cancer tissue biopsies paired with normal bladder tissue samples obtained from the same patients for the definition and identification of proteins up-regulated in the tumors. We report the inflammation-associated calcium binding protein S100A8 (MRP-8, calgranulin A) to be highly expressed in tumor cells in contrast to normal urothelium in 50% of the samples, as well as two unidentified protein markers at 5.75 and 6.89 kDa that were differentially detected in 9/12 and 10/12 tumor samples, respectively. These new markers, when fully characterized, may contribute to new target proteins for the prediction of aggressive, invasive bladder tumors.

Clinico-pathological features of bladder carcinoma in women in Pakistan and smokeless tobacco as a possible risk factor

BACKGROUND

Bladder carcinoma is one of the common urological malignancies occurring worldwide in both sexes. Use of smokeless tobacco by women is common in rural areas of Pakistan. The clinico-pathological features of bladder carcinoma in women and association of smokeless tobacco as a possible risk factor for bladder carcinoma has not been well described in the literature. The objective of the study was to determine the clinico-pathological features of histologically confirmed bladder carcinoma in women and to investigate the role of smokeless tobacco use as a possible risk factor for its development.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Of the 204 patients (160 male and 44 female M:F ratio 3.6:1) of newly diagnosed bladder carcinoma treated at Nishtar Medical College Hospital Multan from January 1998 to December 2004, the 44 female patients were evaluated with respect to age, clinical presentation, cystoscopic findings, histopathological reports and possible etiological factors. Data were collected and prospectively updated at the time of discharge from hospital and during follow-up in urology out-patient clinic.

RESULTS

Transitional cell carcinoma accounted for all of the bladder carcinoma in women. Median age of the patients was 55 years and 68% patients were under 60 years of age. Majority of patients (88%) presented with hematuria. Eleven (25%) patients had superficial (pTa/pT1) while 33 (75%) patients had muscle invasive (T2-T4) bladder carcinoma. Most (81%) superficial tumors were papillary while muscle invasive tumors had solid configuration at cystoscopy. Of these, 21 (47%) patients had long history of smokeless tobacco use (chewable or moist snuff).

CONCLUSION

Transitional cell carcinoma is the most common bladder malignancy in women in Pakistan. Many women with bladder carcinoma had long history of use of smokeless tobacco. Majority of patients presented with hematuria and were under 60 years of age. At the time of diagnosis 75% women had muscle invasive bladder carcinoma. In women using smokeless tobacco, the correlation between stage of bladder carcinoma and duration of smokeless tobacco use was significant (p = 0.03). Further studies are needed to clarify the role of smokeless tobacco in the development of bladder carcinoma.