Tumour size, site, degree of infiltration, presence of adenopathy and hydronephrosis were assessed and an appropriate radiological stage assigned. Following radiotherapy all patients received regular cystoscopic follow-up. Date of first relapse and date of death were recorded. The median follow-up was 2.8 years for survivors. These findings could have implications in the design of appropriate administration schedules of these two drugs for the treatment of bladder cancer.
Clinical outcomes vary for patients treated with radical cystectomy.
The authors sought to identify factors associated with the survival of patients treated with radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder. The authors studied 218 patients treated with radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma between 1980 to 1984. Thirty-two patients had lymph node metastasis at the time of surgery. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the impact of numerous clinical and pathologic findings on survival. In univariate analysis, cancer size, T classification, and lymph node status were associated with distant metastasis free, cancer specific, and all-cause survival.