Major variation found in bladder cancer subtypes

The need for focused research into bladder cancer has been highlighted by a new study that revealed internal and surface tumours have two different disease entities with different causes.

Researchers have been urged to differentiate between the two types of bladder cancer, which is the fifth most common cancer in the US, when carrying out detailed studies. The detailed trend analysis performed showed significant differences between the main subtypes of the disease.

Bladder cancer was shown in the January edition of the urology journal BJUI to have decreased by nine per cent between 1973 and 2007. However, when researchers looked at the two main subtypes, they found that papillary transitional cell carcinoma (PTCC) increased by 56 per cent over that period and non-papillary transitional cell carcinoma (NPTCC) fell by 53 per cent.

Lead author Dr Yawei Zhang, from Yale University in the US, commented that: "These two subtypes of bladder cancer are normally categorised as a single disease called transitional cell carcinoma in research studies, but our findings highlight major trend differences over more than three decades"

"This is a significant finding that underlines the importance of future research differentiating between these two subtypes."