title: Radiation therapy for transitional cell bladder carcinoma. A ten-year experience.
abstract: From 1969 to 1979, 185 patients with transitional cell bladder carcinoma were curatively irradiated; 147 were treated with radiation alone (RT) and 38 received a combined radiation + surgery (RT + S). At presentation, 40 percent of the patients had obstructive uropathy which yielded a much lower five-year survival (18%) than when it was absent (50%). The overall five-year disease-free survival was 30 percent and 53 percent for patients treated with radical RT and RT + S, respectively. Among patients subjected to preoperative irradiation, downstaging was seen in 40 percent of postsurgical specimens, with 27 percent of the specimens showing no evidence of tumor; these patients had excellent survival. Severe complications were seen in 3 percent, 10 percent, and 27 percent of patients in the radical RT, RT + S, and radical RT + salvage cystectomy groups. Survival results, pelvic controls, and patterns of failure are presented.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy / Q000009:adverse effects; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*