THE PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF THE DEPTH OF INVASION IN STAGE pT1 BLADDER CANCER

The discussion are focused on that whether it is proper to separate the bladder carcinomas of stage pTl into stage pTla and pTlb according to invasion of depth in the lamina propria for the anticipation of clinical course. Thus, we reevaluated clinical material and searched the prognostic value of separating superficial and deep lamina propria.

The bladder tumor piece with transitional epithelial cells; total 53 pTl has been reexamined by considering the muscular mucous membrane and the stage pTla (surface lamina propria invasion) has been classified into stage pTlb (deep lamina propria invasion) and stage pT1x (unidentified invasion depth). The relation of recurrence and progression with the depth of invasion has been statistically calculated by using non-parametric t test. The average pursuit period for cases was 46.6 months.

30 qf 53 cases were diagnosed as stage pTla (56.6 %) and 17 as pTlb (32.0 %). In 6 cases (11.4 %), invasion of depth could not be determined. The statistical analysis carried out among equal graded groups depicted that there is no significant difference between pTla and pTlb sub-groups both in terns of progression (p = 0.20) and recurrence (p > 0.20). Our result leads us to think that the separation of stage pTl bladder carcinomas according to invasion of depth has no clinical importance in terms of prognosis.