Bladder carcinoma in patients age 40 years or younger

The records of 26 men and nine women aged 40 years or younger, with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, were reviewed. Twenty-eight of the patients presented with gross painless hematuria, and 30 were regular smokers. Twenty-two patients presented with noninvasive disease, five with superficial invasion and eight with deep invasion. The risk of the disease progressing to invasion increased with the grade of the tumor, rising from 24% with Grade 1 to 75% with Grade 3. The patients younger than 30 years presented with a lower grade and a lower stage disease than those older than age 30. Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder in young adults has a natural history similar to that seen in older patients.