Comparative Analysis of Clinicopathologic Characteristics and Outcomes of Urothelial Bladder Cancer Between Young and Older Adults—Experience from a Tertiary Care Center

The evidence on bladder cancer in the young population remains fragmented due to lack of literature and conflicting results from the existing studies. We aim to elucidate such conflicting data and define the clinicopathologic characteristics, management trends, and outcomes of urothelial bladder carcinoma in young adults as compared to their older counterparts. This was a retrospective, single-center study involving patients with primary urothelial bladder cancer who underwent treatment at our center from March 2017 to March 2022. For analysis, patients were stratified into three subgroups based on age: group A, 18–40 years; group B, > 40 years; and group C, > 60 years. Group A with younger patients was compared with groups B and C. A total of 471 eligible patients (422 males and 49 females) were included in the study with a median age of 44 years. Group A had significantly lower recurrence and progression rates as compared to group B (31% vs 57.1%, p = 0.002 and 9.5% vs 19.2%, p = 0.04, respectively). Group A had significantly more recurrence-free survival (RFS) than group B (5-year-RFS = 68.03% vs 32.58%, p = 0.01). Similarly, group A also had lower recurrence (31% vs 62.6%, p < 0.001) and progression (9.5% vs 28.6%, p = 0.015) rates as compared to group C as well as better RFS (5-year-RFS = 68.03% vs 19.00%, p = 0.04) and progression-free survival (5-year-PFS = 83.1% vs 62.8%, p = 0.03) in comparison to group C. Age and tumor grade were found to be independent predictors of recurrence-free and progression-free survival. We concluded that high-grade disease is more common than low-grade disease both in younger and older patients. Younger patients fare better in terms of recurrence and progression when compared to their older counterparts.