Coexistence of papillary and nodular carcinomas in the urinary bladder.

Of 203 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder which had been cystectomized and examined by step-sectioning during the period between 1969 and 1986, 33 had coexistent papillary, papillonodular and/or nodular carcinomas in the bladder. Of them, 12 (36%) had a history of papillary carcinomas, 26 (79%) had multiple tumors and 22 (67%) had a concomitant carcinoma in situ, and/or mucosal dysplasia. Moreover, microscopic papillary structures were identified in 32 out of the 33 (97%) cases with papillonodular and/or nodular carcinomas, indicating some of the nodular invasive carcinomas in the bladder to have developed from papillary carcinomas.