Accurate diagnosis of histological subtypes is critical to inform optimal clinical management of patients with bladder cancer. However, the diagnosis of histological subtypes remains a challenge and significant interobserver variability persists.
We analyzed temporal trends in the diagnosis of histological subtypes in bladder cancer in the US.
Utilizing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 17 registry, we evaluated squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), adenocarcinoma (AC), neuroendocrine carcinoma (NC), and other histological subtypes including micropapillary, sarcomatoid, and plasmacytoid variants, diagnosed in cystectomy specimens for patients with pT2-4 primary bladder carcinoma during 2000-2020. We performed Spearman's rank-order correlation to assess temporal trends in the proportions of patients diagnosed with each histology category. We divided the 21-year analysis period into seven 3-year intervals and aggregated data over each interval to improve the precision of proportion estimates. We conducted multivariable logistic regression to adjust for covariates.
We identified 28,160 patients. In unadjusted analysis, the proportion of patients diagnosed with SCC decreased significantly over time (ρ -0.86, P = 0.02). The proportion diagnosed with other histological subtypes increased significantly over time (ρ 1.00, P = 0.001). After adjusting for covariates, a later year of diagnosis was associated with significantly increased odds of NC (OR 1.07, P= 0.001) and other histological subtype diagnoses (OR 1.16, P < 0.001).
Variant histological subtypes of muscle-invasive bladder cancer in cystectomy specimens from patients in the US have increased over time. These trends could reflect increasing awareness of histological subtypes among pathologists.
Urologic oncology. 2025 Jul 04 [Epub ahead of print]
Brendan K Wallace, Zhuo Tony Su, James P Flynn, Tyler S Garman, Aidan Weitzner, Michael E Rezaee, Ezra G Baraban, Andres Matoso, Armine K Smith, Sunil H Patel, Max R Kates
The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Electronic address: ., The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD., Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD., Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40617794