INCREASED INCIDENCE OF NON-TRANSITIONAL CELL-CARCINOMA OF THE BLADDERIN WOMEN OF THE TEXAS GULF-COAST REGION

The objective of our study was to verify a suspected increased inciden ce of non-transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder in female p atients treated at our institution. The study included 169 patients, 8 3% of whom resided in the Texas Gulf Coast region. Tumors were conside red TCC or non-TCC on the basis of their predominant histologic patter n. The incidence of non-TCC among men (8.1%) was comparable with data from American tumor registries and European studies. In contrast, our female patients exhibited a marked increased incidence of non-TCC (42. 3%), which is approximately five times higher than that in other serie s. All male and female patients with non-TCC had invasive disease. His tory of urinary tract infections was strongly associated with non-TCC. Our results suggest that our sample of the female population in the T exas Gulf Coast region has a significantly high incidence of non-TCC. This unusual trend merits further investigation.