The importance of being grade 3: WHO 1999 versus WHO 2004 pathologic grading

摘要

The most important event to predict for patients with non-muscle-invasive (NMI) bladder cancer is progression to muscle-invasive growth. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) risk tables have been used and validated as a prognostic tool for both cancer recurrence and progression. The tables include tumor grade according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 1973 system, tumor stage, and presence/absence of carcinoma in situ (CIS), complemented by three clinical parameters: prior recurrence rate, tumor diameter, and number of tumors. In the European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines for NMI bladder cancer from 2011, grading with both the three-tiered WHO 1973 and the two-tiered 2004 systems are recommended [1 ]. The argument in favor of WHO 2004 has been less interobserver variability.