Study design

This retrospective study included data on 297 consecutive patients who underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor(s) (TURBT) as part of their work up for bladder cancer. These patients were seen and evaluated in the departments of urology at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (UWHC) as well as the Atlanta Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) between 2000 and 2012. Only patients with primary bladder tumor and those who had a complete blood count and differentials prior to TUR were included in the study. NLRs were calculated by dividing neutrophil percentage by the percentage of lymphocytes measured in the differential of a CBC. None of the patients had undergone any prior intravesical therapies. No patient had any evidence of active infection or hematopoietic malignancy at the time of tumor resection. Patients that self-identified as African American were assigned the designation of African Ancestry (AA) in this study, while those that self-described as Caucasian were listed as European Ancestry (EA). Histological evaluation of the specimens was performed at the respective centers mentioned above and TNM staging and grading assigned according to the 2010 American Joint Committee on Cancer/UICC TNM Classification, 7th edition [17]. Other patient demographic details that were retrospectively extracted from the medical records included patient age, sex, and gender. The main outcome measure of this study was tumor grade and stage differences within and across racial lineages. The respective Institutional Review Boards of UWHC and VAMC Atlanta approved this study.