Results of cystectomy with and without preoperative radiotherapy in carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

During a period of 13 years, 84 patients underwent total cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. The corrected 5-year survival rate was 58%. The operative mortality was 5 patients (6%). The 5-year survival rate of 42 patients who were treated by surgery alone was 53%, whereas that of 42 patients who received preoperative radiation of 30-40 Gy was 65%. The prognoses of the patients were dependent on the histological differentiation and the extent of the primary tumour within each treatment group.