NBCCGA: CENTRAL CYTOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY LABORATORY

The objective of the clinical research effort of National Bladder Cancer
Collaborative Group A is to improve the care of patients with bladder
carcinoma through studies of different aspects of clinical management
according to carefully designed protocols. These are conducted at several
Collaborating Institutions (CI) by multidisciplinary teams of physicians,
including urologists, radiation therapists, medical oncologists and
pathologists. A Central Statistical Office is responsible for collection
organization and analyses of data, and an Administrative Center is
responsible for program coordination and control. A Central Pathology
Laboratory is responsible for the uniform evaluation, classification and
analysis of pathologic and cytologic material. The Central Pathology
Laboratory (CPL) proposes to: 1) Confirm the diagnosis of bladder cancer
at the time of patient entry into the NBCCGA Surveillance Protocol (Ia) and
to confirm the presence of those specific histopathologic features which
will determine the eligibility of patients for specific therapy protocols;
2) to provide detailed histopathologic and cytologic information to the
Statistical Center on review of accessioned material; 3) to review
appropriate histologic material with CI pathologists looking particularly
at cases with diagnostic differences between CPL and CI pathologists in
order to expand our use of pathologic prognostic indicators; 4) to work
with GI cytopathologists toward the acceptance and utilization of a
standard method for evaluating and processing cytologic preparations; 5) to
test the usefulness of cell surface markers as predictors of the aggressive
potential of bladder carcinomas; 6) to provide resources, support and
leadership within NBCCGA for the evaluation and interpretation of cytologic
and histopathologic data.