To determine the follow-up schedule in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer who had remained recurrence-free for 5 or more years, we retrospectively reviewed 258 patients with Ta and T1 bladder cancer who had been free of recurrence for at least 5 years.
Of these 258 patients, subsequent recurrences developed in 100 patients. In spite of our recommendation that cystoscopic follow-up be done at 12-month intervals for patients who remained recurrence-free for more than 5 years, 45 had been followed at intervals of more than 12 months (range, 13-77 months) when the recurrences were found. Of 100 recurrent tumors, 20 (20.0%) showed bladder muscle invasion. Muscle-invasive cancer was identified more often in the patients with cytoscopic intervals of more than 12 months than in those of less than 12 months (35.6% versus 7.3%). Therefore, we recommend that cystoscopy be performed at intervals of less than 12 months in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer for recurrence detection before tumors become muscle invasive, even when patients remain free of recurrence for a long period.
Written by:
Akagashi K, Nakajima H, Nitta T, Sato Y, Tobe M, Haga K, Uchida K, Honma I, Tanda H, Kato S, Ohnishi S, Hanzawa T. Are you the author?
The Department of Urology, Sanjukai Hospital.
Reference: Hinyokika Kiyo. 2012 Aug;58(8):395-9.
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23052261
Article in Japanese.
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