Objective: To compare the clinicopathological and immunohistochemical findings of superficial papillary transitional cell carcinomas in "young" and "elderly" patients, as the natural history and prognosis of bladder tumours in young patients remains a matter of debate.
Patients and methods: Tumours from 50 patients with superficial urothelial tumours of the bladder diagnosed before 45 years old ("young" group, follow-up 25-119 months) were compared with 90 similar tumours developed in patients aged >55 years ("elderly", follow-up 24-102 months). All the patients had a transurethral resection with curative intent, and none had received any therapy before surgery. After surgery only patients diagnosed with pT1 tumours were treated by intravesical bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) instillations; all received intravesical BCG if there was a recurrence. The clinicopathological variables, recurrence and disease-free interval to recurrence were assessed. Proliferative activity (MIB-1) and expression of cell-cycle regulation proteins cyclin D1, p53 and p27(kip1) were detected by immunohistochemistry in the tumours of both groups. RESULTS There were statistically significant differences in tumour grade, stage and occurrence between the "young" and "elderly" groups. The 'young' group had a longer disease-free interval to recurrence. Among the immunohistochemical markers analysed, only MIB-1 and cyclin D1 were associated with an increased risk of recurrence in the "young" group (P < 0.04 and <0.01, respectively) in a univariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS Superficial papillary urothelial tumours of the bladder in "young" patients had a better prognosis than those in the "elderly" group, showing a lower grade and stage at diagnosis, and a lower recurrence rate. Proliferative activity and cyclin D1 expression levels were of prognostic significance for the risk of recurrence in these patients.