The Impact of Pelvic Lymphadenectomy on the Survival of Patients Who Underwent Radical Cystectomy for Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder

Jeon, Hwang Gyun; Ku, Ja Hyeon; Jeong, Hyeon; Kwak, Cheol; Lee, Eunsik; Lee, Chongwook; Lee, Sang Eun

Abstract

PURPOSE: We assessed the impact of pelvic lymphadenectomy on the survival of patients who had undergone radical cystectomy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed 107 patients who underwent radical cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder between January 1991 and December 2000. We preoperatively excluded patients with evidence of pelvic lymphadenopathy and distant metastases from the study. Among 107 patients, 61 patients (Group A) underwent pelvic lymphadenectomy while 46 patients (Group B) did not. The clinicopathological parameters were not significantly different in the two groups.
RESULTS
In group A, 12 patients (19.6%) were found to have pelvic node metastases. Five-year overall survival and recurrence-free survival rates were 68% and 75% for Group A, respectively. In group B, 5-year overall survival and recurrence-free survival rates were 36% and 56%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that T stage (p=0.004) and lymphadenectomy (p=0.044) were significant prognostic factors for survival.
CONCLUSIONS
The overall survival rates between the two groups were significantly different. Our findings suggested that lymphadenectomy may improve the prognosis of patients who underwent radical cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.