Cystectomy in the treatment of bladder cancer

Radical cystectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy and urinary diversion is an important component in the treatment of bladder cancer. It is considered the most important method in the therapy for muscle invasive and selected high-risk non-muscle invasive tumours with excellent local control and high complete remission rate. It consists of complete removal of tumour tissue in the bladder, small pelvis and regional lymph nodes. In males, urinary bladder and prostate are routinely removed; in females, bladder, uterus and anterior vaginal wall are removed. Urethrectomy is indicated only in selected situations. An integral part of the operation is the bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy. Extravesical disease extension and lymph node positivity are unfavourable prognostic factors. Better prognosis is expected in patients with less than 5 positive nodes. Important prognostic factor is also the number of removed lymph nodes, which is a strong argument for meticulous bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy. Lymph node density (number of positive nodes/ number of removed nodes) is considered as very important prognostic factor. Better prognosis can be expected in patients with less positive and more removed nodes.