Superficial bladder cancer. A 10 year experience.

A total of 236 patients - 198 males and 38 females with superficial bladder cancer (stage A(TaT1)) were treated with transurethral resection of the tumours. Intravesical chemotherapy (84 patients) or immunotherapy (27 patients) was added in those patients considered to be at high risk of developing local recurrences or stage progression. The five and ten years survival in the single tumour group (117 patients) were 86 percent and 72.9 percent as compared to 72.5 percent and 70.7 percent respectively in the multiple tumour group (119 patients). The five and ten year survival rates for grade I tumours were 88.3 percent and 86 percent respectively, for grade II tumours 80.8 percent and 64 percent and for grade III tumours 56.9 percent and 46 percent respectively. The impact of tumour grade on survival was found to be independent of the number of tumours. The response rates to intravesical thiotepa was 54.9 percent mitomycin 60 percent and with BCG 71.5 percent. All the three reduced the local recurrence rates and increase the mean interval to recurrence but the stage progression rate was significantly lowered only with intravesical BCG. In our study, we have used the Danish strain of BCG available to us and have found it to yield response rates comparable to other centres using Tice or Pasteur strains.