A case-control study on the association between bladder cancer and prior bladder calculus

Bladder calculus is associated with chronic irritation and inflammation. As there is substantial documentation that inflammation can play a direct role in carcinogenesis, to date the relationship between stone formation and bladder cancer (BC) remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between BC and prior bladder calculus using a population-based dataset.

This case-control study included 2,086 cases who had received their first-time diagnosis of BC between 2001 and 2009 and 10,430 randomly selected controls without BC. Conditional logistic regressions were employed to explore the association between BC and having been previously diagnosed with bladder calculus.

Of the sampled subjects, bladder calculus was found in 71 (3.4%) cases and 105 (1.1%) controls. Conditional logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds ratio (OR) of having been diagnosed with bladder calculus before the index date for cases was 3.42 (95% CI = 2.48-4.72) when compared with controls after adjusting for monthly income, geographic region, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and renal disease, tobacco use disorder, obesity, alcohol abuse, and schistosomiasis, bladder outlet obstruction, and urinary tract infection. We further analyzed according to sex and found that among males, the OR of having been previously diagnosed with bladder calculus for cases was 3.45 (95% CI = 2.39-4.99) that of controls. Among females, the OR was 3.05 (95% CI = 1.53-6.08) that of controls.

These results add to the evidence surrounding the conflicting reports regarding the association between BC and prior bladder calculus and highlight a potential target population for bladder cancer screening.