ABSTRACT

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common malignancy in men and the eighth most common malignancy in women, and the lifetime risk of the disease is greater than 3% (NIH 1990; Ries et al. 1997). Every year, nearly 200,000 new cases of bladder cancer are reported in Europe and the United States. Urothelial cell carcinoma comprises 90%–95% of all bladder cancers, with about 70% found initially as nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and the remainder as invasive (Oosterlinck et al. 2002).