Metastases from transitional cell carcinoma of urinary bladder.

In 107 patients who died of metastatic transitional cell carcinoma, the most common sites for metastases at necropsy were the lymph nodes, liver, lung, bone, and adrenal gland. Metastases first were documented clinically in multiple-organ sites in one third of the patients; solitary metastases were present in only 9 patients at necropsy. The mean duration of survival for patients was thirteen months from the diagnosis of the primary tumor. The metastatic lesion(s) generally were evident clinically within eleven months of the primary diagnosis; death ensued usually within three months. Our finding that the majority of patients presented initially with high-grade tumors suggests that a high-grade lesion, regardless of its clinical stage, warrants early aggressive therapy.