Squamous differentiation in patients with superficial bladder urothelial carcinoma is associated with high risk of recurrence and poor survival

Abstract Background The independent prognostic role of squamous differentiation in pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma has not been reported in previous studies. This article describes the impact of squamous differentiation on tumor recurrence and survival, and whether this histologic variant could indeed alter definitive treatment, based on single center-based retrospective data. Methods Totally, we retrieved (1)1449 histologically confirmed pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma patients without histologic variants; (2)227 pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma patients with squamous differentiation in our institution, from May 2004 to Oct 2015. The total amount of high/low grade urothelial carcinoma patients was 991/685 respectively. Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) and intravesical chemotherapy were performed as initial treatments for all the patients. The clinical and pathological characteristics, treatment and survival outcomes were compared between squamous differentiation-positive and squamous differentiation-negative patients. Results In our study, 14% urothelial carcinoma patients were detected with squamous differentiation. The mean age of all the patients examined was 66.4, of whom 82% were males. The 5-year cancer specific survival rates were 69% for squamous differentiation-positive patients and 91% for squamous differentiation-negative patients (p < 0.001). Recurrence proved to be more common in squamous differentiation-positive patients than in negative patients. In the results of the univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis, tumor size, lymphovascular invasion, recurrence and squamous differentiation were confirmed to be the prognostic factors associated with patients’ survival. Conclusions Squamous differentiation in pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma is correlated to high risk of recurrence and poor prognosis as an independent prognostic factor. Radical cystectomy is essential for recurred high grade pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation accompanied by lymphovascular invasion