Presenting symptoms, treatment delay and survival in bladder cancer

In 212 consecutive patients with bladder tumour, relationships between symptoms, demographic factors, delay before treatment and survival rate were investigated. The presenting symptom was haematuria in 79% of the patients. The interval from onset of symptoms until treatment averaged 28 weeks (median = 15 weeks). The general practitioner delay comprised half of the total delay. Patients with cystitis as the presenting symptom and women with haematuria had the longest doctor delay. The length of delay did not influence the crude survival rate in patients with tumours in the two highest TNM stages. In T1 and T2 tumours, shorter delay tended to give a better survival rate.