Prognostic value of preoperative pyuria in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Objectives To investigate the prognostic value of preoperative pyuria in patients with non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer. Methods We retrospectively reviewed data from 237 patients diagnosed with non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer. Pyuria was defined as urine containing ≥5 white blood cells per high power field. The association between clinicopathological factors and recurrence was assessed by Cox univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Preoperative pyuria was found in 116 (49.0%) patients. Pyuria was significantly associated with advanced age, positive cytology, multiple tumors, large tumor size, non‐papillary tumors, T1 tumors and high‐grade tumors. In univariate analysis of the entire patient population, pyuria, positive urine cytology, multiple tumors, pT1 tumors and no bacillus Calmette–Guérin were significantly associated with recurrence. Multivariate analysis showed that pyuria was an independent predictor of recurrence (hazard ratio 3.332, 95% confidence interval 2.052–5.410; P