Modeling the recurrence–progression process in bladder carcinoma

Wei–Lin–Weissfeld (WLW) method is used to analyze different states of the superficial vesical carcinoma distinguishing between recurrences and the possibility of progression. Two approaches are considered in this analysis to represent different aspects of the disease from a clinical point of view: the first one attempts to focus on the effect of the clinico-pathological factors on recurrences by regarding a progression before the recurrence as a censoring event, meanwhile the second one analyzes these same effects on either recurrence or progression, whichever comes first. A predictive model of recurrence or progression based on clinico-pathological factors is presented.