[Morphometric study of transitional carcinoma of the bladder (I): analysis of 148 superficial tumors]

A morphometric study of the tumor cell nucleus was performed in 148 cases of superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Of these, 131 were papillary and 17 were nonpapillary tumors. Our methodology is compared with those described elsewhere. With regard to papillary tumors, the nuclear size of the internal papilla near the stroma was found to be greater than that of the external papilla near the bladder lumen. Tumor cells with internal papillary nuclear size less than or equal to 28 microns 2 appeared to have a better prognosis. Thus, nuclear measurements in this area must be performed in future studies. No conclusive data could be obtained relative to the nonpapillary tumors. For both papillary and nonpapillary tumors, the higher the histologic grade, the greater the nuclear size, the differences being statistically significant.