RESUMO
Objective To explore the clinicopathological significance of the presence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in the high-grade stage pT1 bladder cancer (BC) after first transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT).Methods The retrospective study was performed with 27 patients of high-grade stage pT1 BC after first TURBT from January 2006 to December 2011,and another 54 patients were matched as negative control in terms of gender,age,pathological pattern,grading and staging.All the data were calculated by using SPSS17.0 software.Qualitative variables were compared by using chi-square test.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate total survival and cancer-specific survival and differences were assessed with the Log-rank statistic.Results Twenty-four patients (89％) experienced cancer recurrence in LVI group,while 19 cases (35％) experienced recurrence in control group.Progress developed in 56％ (15/27) and 24％ (13/54) in the 2 groups respectively.LVI was detected to be a prognostic factor for overall recurrence (x2 =20.845,P＜0.001) and progress (x2 =7.887,P =0.005) in patients with high-grade T1 stage BC.Furthermore,overall survival and recurrence-free survival according to the presence or absence of LVI was 54±6 months and 84±3 months,17±5 months and 67±5 months,respectively.LVI was proved to be associated with worse overall survival (x2=13.443,P＜0.001) and recurrence free survival (x2=33.094,P＜0.001).Conclusion In patients with high-grade T1 stage BC,LVI in first TURBT specimens predicts disease recurrence,progression and overall recurrence and recurrence free survival.