Stage B ( [formula omitted]) transitional cell carcinoma of bladder highly curable by radical cystectomy

Seventy-one patients with pathologic Stage B ( P 2 3 a N 0 ) transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder underwent radical cystectomy alone without preoperative radiotherapy or perioperative chemotherapy between 1983 and 1987 and have been followed a median of fifty months. The five-year actuarial survival and disease free survival rates were 82 percent and 77 percent, respectively, and only 13 patients (18%) have relapsed. Histologic parameters were evaluated as to prognostic impact; none correlated with disease-free survival rates although the presence of vessel involvement portended a worse disease free survival rate (68% versus 80%). During this same period, an additional 15 patients underwent radical cystectomy for pathologic Stage B disease but received adjuvant chemotherapy on the basis of vessel invasion. Their disease free survival rate at five years was 80 percent, comparable to the disease free survival rate for patients with vessel invasion treated by surgery alone (68%). Although the role of systemic chemotherapy in the management of invasive bladder cancer remains under investigation, it would appear that patients with Stage B TCC are best treated with radical cystectomy alone. Continued analysis of modern surgical results grouped by current pathologic staging criteria is needed to identify patients who have a relatively low risk of relapse and thus little need for additional therapeutic intervention. These results demonstrate that Stage P 2 3 a N 0 TCC of the bladder is highly curable by surgery.