En-bloc resection of bladder tumors (ERBT) for pathological staging: the value of lateral margins analysis.

AIM: In endoscopic resection of colorectal tumours, the pathological assessment of the lateral margins is a strong predictor of tumor recurrence after resection. The aims of the current study are to evaluate the value of the peritumoral margins assessment in ERBT on tumor recurrence. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed the data of 50 consecutive patients with NMIBC and treated by ERBT between January and December 2017. RESULTS: The lateral margins showed dysplasia in 16 patients and malignancy in 3 patients. Local recurrence occurred in 14 (28%) patients. It was noted that 57% of patients with recurrence showed some degree of dysplasia or malignancy in the lateral margin; however, on multivariate logistic regression lateral margins lesions were not significantly associated with recurrence (OR 2.175, 95% CI 0.430 - 10.996, p=0.35). CONCLUSIONS: ERBT may improve the pathological report of bladder tumor. There was a trend toward increased rate of recurrence in patients with dysplasia or malignancy in their lateral margins; however, this was not statistically significant on multivariate analysis. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to assess the value of lateral margin analysis.