Radical Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer Today—A Homogeneous Series Without Neoadjuvant Therapy

TLDR

The study examined how pelvic lymph node dissection and radical cystectomy affect recurrence‑free and overall survival, pelvic recurrences, and metastatic patterns in bladder cancer patients. The authors analyzed 507 N0 M0 bladder cancer patients who underwent pelvic lymphadenectomy and radical cystectomy without neoadjuvant therapy, assessing TNM staging, survival, and metastatic patterns over a mean 45‑month follow‑up. Five‑year recurrence‑free survival was 73 % for organ‑confined, 56 % for non‑organ‑confined, and 33 % for node‑positive tumors, with overall survival 62 %, 49 %, and 26 % respectively; 24 % of patients had unsuspected nodal metastases, yet pelvic recurrence remained low (≤13 %) and distant metastases increased from 25 % to 51 % with nodal positivity.

Abstract

To investigate the effect of pelvic lymph node dissection and radical cystectomy for transitional cell cancer of the bladder on recurrence-free and overall survival, pelvic recurrences, and metastatic patterns in a homogeneous group.A consecutive series of patients undergoing pelvic lymphadenectomy and radical cystectomy between 1985 and 2000 was analyzed. All patients were staged N0, M0 preoperatively, and no patient received neoadjuvant radio/chemotherapy. Pathologic characteristics based on the 1997 tumor-node-metastasis system, recurrence-free/overall survival, and metastatic patterns were determined.Five hundred seven patients (age 66 +/- 12 years) with a mean follow-up time of 45 months (range, 0.1 to 176 months) were analyzed. Five-year recurrence-free and overall survival were, respectively, 73% and 62% for patients with organ-confined, lymph node-negative tumors (n = 217; < or = pT2, pN0) and 56% and 49% for non-organ-confined, lymph node-negative tumors (n = 166; > pT2, pN0). Positive lymph nodes were found in 124 (24%) patients who had a 5-year recurrence-free (33%) or overall (26%) survival. Isolated local recurrences were observed in 3% of patients with organ-confined tumors (< or = pT2, pN0), 11% with non-organ-confined tumors (> pT2, pN0), and 13% with positive lymph nodes (any pT, pN+). Distant metastases developed in 25% of patients with organ-confined tumors, 37% with non-organ-confined tumors, and 51% with positive lymph nodes.Despite negative preoperative staging, pelvic lymphadenectomy and cystectomy for bladder cancer reveal a high percentage of unsuspected nodal metastases (24%) that have a 25% chance for long-term survival. This procedure also ensures a low pelvic recurrence rate even in lymph node-positive patients, and patients with locally advanced cancer have a 56% probability of 5-year recurrence-free survival.