Antigenic deletion and prognosis of patients with stage A transitional cell bladder carcinoma.

The mixed cell agglutination reaction was studied in 22 patients with stage A transitional cell bladder tumors. The absence of antigens on the original tumor was found to correlate with development of invasive cancer on followup. The presence of antigens on the original tumor correlated with failure to develop stage B or greater disease within 5 to 14 years of followup.