The prognosis with untreated bladder tumors

NOWLEDGE of the course of patients with K untreated neoplasms of the urinary bladder would provide useful comparative data regarding the effectiveness of treatment. Indeed, such information might indicate whether any attempt at therapy is justified. Defining the duration of the disease as the time elapsing from the first symptom to death overcomes some investigative difficulties, as discussed in the preceding paper. Estimation of stage and grade at the time of diagnosis is often hampered by incomplete examinations and records. Limiting the study to autopsies would not only reduce the number of observations but would also introduce a still higher degree of selection. Obtaining follow-up data is not always easy or successful. I n spite of these difficulties and because knowledge of even broad trends would be valuable, an attempt to estimate the course of patients with untreated bladder growths on the basis of the best available data seemed worth while.