Definition of variables and endpoints
tumor, death, bladder tumor, Tumor, bladder cancer, Death, deaths
BLADDER TUMOR, TUMOR, BLADDER CANCER, TUMOR
Patients with stage T1 bladder cancer were categorized into two groups: the non-involved group and the PUI group. The T1 stage in the non-involved group was defined as the presence of subepithelial connective tissue, including tunica propria, lamina propria, and submucosa, which are part of the bladder stroma. The analysis considered various demographic characteristics such as age at diagnosis, race, and marital status. Tumor characteristics included histology, grade, and tumor size, while treatment characteristics comprised information on surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The data pertaining to radiotherapy and chemotherapy were consistent with the data use agreement. Specifically, continuous variables like age were converted into categorical variables, with age groups defined as < 50, 50–60, 60–70, 70–80, and > 80. Tumor size was categorized into four groups: <  = 3 cm, 3-6 cm, > 6 cm, and unknown. Marital status was divided into four categories: married, single, widowed or divorced, and unknown status. The surgical method was determined based on the “RX Summ-Surg Prim Site (1998 +)” column and included transurethral bladder tumor resection (TURBT), partial cystectomy (PC), radical cystectomy (RC), pelvic exenteration (PE), or no surgery. Other variables considered in the study were race (white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaskan Native), tumor grade (Low, High, Unknown), radiotherapy (no/unknown, yes), and chemotherapy (no/unknown, yes).The primary endpoints of this study were all-cause mortality (ACM) and cancer-specific mortality (CSM), which were determined based on data from the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database. The Cause of Death Recode in the SEER database was utilized to identify the causes of death, considering both cancer-specific and non-cancer-related factors, as indicated by the ICD 8–10 codes. Cancer-specific mortality (CSM) was recorded specifically for bladder cancer based on the SEER mortality code. All-cause mortality (ACM) encompassed deaths caused by bladder cancer as well as deaths resulting from other causes. Survival time was defined as the duration from initial diagnosis to death from any cause or the last follow-up.