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Abstract
Objectives: To study diagnostic delay in invasive bladder cancer in a population‐based material with long‐term follow‐up, and to evaluate whether delay in diagnosis affects the risk of bladder cancer death.
Material and Methods: In a previous study, 177 patients with invasive bladder cancer (T1–T4) diagnosed in 1988 were investigated with regard to diagnostic delay. A review of all available clinical records was performed. In the present study, causes of death for these patients were registered over a 12‐year follow‐up period, and the impact of diagnostic delay on bladder cancer death was studied by means of survival analysis.
Results: The median diagnostic delay in the material was 144 days. When the patients were stratified into groups with diagnostic delays of 0–3, 3–6, 6–12 and >12 months, those with T1 tumours in the two groups with a diagnostic delay of <6 months showed a trend towards a decreased risk of bladder cancer death. In contrast, in patients with muscle‐invasive disease, a significantly increased risk of bladder cancer death was noted for those with a diagnostic delay of <6 months.
Conclusion: A trend towards better prognosis was found for patients with T1 tumours with a shorter diagnostic delay. The poor prognosis of patients with muscle‐invasive disease and a short diagnostic delay suggests aggressive behaviour of the tumour and may explain the worse prognosis in these patients.