The relationship between non-invasive papillary lesions and invasive bladder carcinoma.

Ten patients with noninvasive papillary lesions who subsequently developed invasive bladder carcinoma were identified. Five of the 10 patients developed an invasive carcinoma in a location distinctly separate from any preceding papillary lesion. The remaining five patients developed an invasive carcinoma in the same general location as a preceding papillary lesion. These findings suggest that invasive bladder carcinomas, which develop in a patient with previous noninvasive papillary lesions, often arise from nonpapillary urothelium adjacent the noninvasive papillary lesion rather than directly from the preceding papillary lesion.