[Urine-based cytological diagnosis against the background of the new histopathological classification].

Urinary cytology is a basic adjunct to cystoscopy and transurethral resection in the diagnosis and characterization of high-grade urothelial carcinomas of the bladder. According to the new WHO classification the former tumor grading G1-3 for non-invasive carcinomas has been replaced by a separation into low-grade and high-grade urothelial carcinomas. An interesting question is where the former non-invasive G2 carcinomas will be positioned in this new classification. In a retrospective analysis we focused on 44 patients with pTaG2 and 17 patients with pT1G2 carcinomas and found that this group of tumors is cytologically heterogeneous but easily differentiated into low-grade and high-grade lesions. A cytometrical analysis significantly underlines the results of the cytological diagnostics. High-grade tumors show a higher recurrence and progression rate. Cytological diagnostics can therefore assist in differentiating low-grade from high-grade urothelial carcinomas.