OBJECTIVETo study the clinicopathological features of patients with urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder (UCB), and analyze the association of clinicopathological characteristics with tumor recurrence and progression.

METHODSAltogether 658 UCB cases in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center were collected from January 2006 to December 2010. The histopathologic materials and the clinical records were reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were preformed to detect the association.

RESULTSThe mean age of the patients was 61.97 +/- 12.97 years (range, 20-90 years). Male to female ratio was about 5:1. A total of 517 cases (78.6%) were superficial at the time of diagnosis (stage Ta/T1). The mean follow-up period was 22.36 +/- 24.92 months. Twenty-five patients lacking follow-up information were excluded in calculating recurrence and progression rates, the recurrence rate was about 37.0% (234/633), and progression rate about 6.2% (39/633). Three variables (grade, tumor growth pattern, and pathological stage) were found to be significant risk factors for tumor progression in univariate and multivariate analyses (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSMost of the newly diagnosed UCB cases may be superficial diseases. Grade, tumor growth pattern, and pathological stage are associated with tumor progression of UCB.