[Retrospective study of young bladder urothelial carcinoma from a single center within 16 years]

To evaluate the clinical and pathological features, treatment and prognosis for bladder urothelial carcinoma in relative young patients under 40 years.

A retrospective study involved a total of 43 consecutive patients of bladder urothelial carcinoma, which were under 40 years old from January 2001 to December 2016.

The incidence rate of bladder urothelial carcinoma in the patients under 40 years was 2.2%, and 35 males and 8 females were included. The average age was 33 years (ranging from 23 to 40 years). At initial visit, 62.8% of the patients presented with painless gross hematuria, 9 patients were discovered by routine examination, and 7 patients experienced lower urinary tract symptoms. Solitary tumor occurred in 34 cases whereas multiple carcinomas had been discovered in 9 cases，and all the 9 multiple cases were from 31-40-year-old subgroups. All the patients received proper surgical intervention according to their own clinical stages. Post-operative pathological results showed 29 low-grade urothelial carcinoma and 14 high-grade cases which included 31 Ta cases, with 7 cases of T1, 1 case of T3, and 3 cases of T4 and one case of T1 plus Tis. The total follow-up was from 5 to 165 months, 3 cases were lost. The overall recurrence rate was 12.5% (5 cases from 40). One patient developed distal metastasis, one died of metastasis after 13 months, and the other three received secondary trans-urethral resection of bladder tumors. The average recurrence time was 39 months (ranging from 3 to 105 months). The progression rate was 5% among all the followed-up patients (2 cases from 40). The recurrence rate in multiple lesions group (33%, 3/9) was significantly higher than that (5.9%, 2/34) in solitary lesion group (P=0.000 3).

The incidence rate of bladder urothelial carcinoma in young patients under 40 years becomes increasingly higher over years. The major initial presentation is painless gross hematuria among these young patients, but lower urinary tract symptoms should also be noticed for young patients to rule out tumor. Postoperative tumor recurrence might be associated with multiple lesions, which is not related to the tumor size or pathological features.