Objectives: To disclose the features of bladder cancer in current smokers at diagnosis and to study the differences in recurrence and progression between smokers and non-smokers.
Patients & methods: 786 consecutive patients with bladder cancer from 1991 to 2004 were studied in a retrospective manner and characteristics of smokers tumours were compared to non smokers.
Results: 377 (48%) patients were smokers at diagnosis. There were no differences in terms of age and T stage between smokers and non smokers (t student and Chi square). We found statistical differences in tumours grade, size and multiplicity ( Chi square, p=0.046, p=0.001 and p=0.12 respectly). No differences were found between smokers and non smokers according to recurrence. (Log Rank, Breslow y Tarone-Ware N.S.). We did find differences according to progression (Log Rank p=0.03, Breslow p=0.05 y Tarone-Ware p=0.03) although it did not support multivariate study.
Conclusions: Currents smokers present bigger and higher grade tumors and, more frequently in a multiple fashion at diagnosis than non-smokers.