Table 1 Characteristics of the study population
| Â | NMIBC group | MIBC group | Controls |
|---|---|---|---|
Sex | Â | Â | Â |
 Male | 137 (77.8) | 126 (80.8) | 381 (76.4) |
 Female | 39 (22.2) | 30 (19.2) | 118 (23.6) |
Age at first diagnosis (mean ± SD) | 61.96 ± 12.88 | 65.85 ± 10.98 | 64.51 ± 5.71 |
Smoking status | Â | Â | Â |
 Smokers | 90 (51.1) | 85 (54.5) | 241 (48.3) |
 Non-smokers | 86 (48.9) | 71 (45.5) | 258 (51.7) |
Clinical stage | Â | Â | Â |
 Ta | 10 (5.7) | - | - |
 T1 | 166 (94.3) | - | - |
 T2 | - | 91 (58.3) | - |
 T3a | - | 36 (23.1) | - |
 T3b | - | 18 (11.5) | - |
 T4 | - | 11 (7.1) | - |
Tumor grade | Â | Â | Â |
 Low grade | 119 (67.6) | 25 (16.0) | - |
 High grade | 57 (32.4) | 131 (84.0) | - |