Bladder cancer is the ninth most frequent neoplasm in the world and the most frequent genitourinary tract cancer.
It is most common between the ages of 60 and 70 and is three times more common in men than in women .
In the population as a whole, bladder cancer ranks 5th among the most frequent cancers, and 4th when considering only the male population.
[Table 1- Bladder cancer mortality and data in Italy]
Table 1. Top five most frequently diagnosed cancers and proportion of total cancers (excluding skin cancers) by sex. Pool Airtum 2007-2011
| Rango | Maschi | Femmine | Tutta la popolazione |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1° | prostate (20%) | breast (29%) | breast (14%) |
| 2° | lung (15%) | colorectal (13%) | colorectal (13%) |
| 3° | colorectal (14%) | lung (6%) | prostate (11%) |
| 4° | bladder (11%) | thyroid (5%) | lung (11%) |
| 5° | stomach (5%) | uterus body (5%) | bladder (7%) |
The main purpose of urinary cytology is to detect the high-grade urothelial carcinoma (HGUC) during the diagnostic reporting phase. Keeping this principle in mind, the working group of The Paris System (TPS) has developed a standardised reporting system that includes specific diagnostic categories and cytomorphological criteria for a reliable diagnosis of HGUC to improve the patient classification and the associated clinical management
The main parameters defining adequacy in urinary cytology are the cellularity and the urine volume under analysis:30 ml has been shown to be a reasonable volume to reduce the number of inadequate samples and to identify high-grade urothelial carcinoma (HGUC).
For urologists and pathologists, understanding the diagnostic criteria and their clinical implications in relation to the guidelines provided by the TPS is essential to take urine cytology reporting to the next level.
