title: Extended lymph node dissection in patients with urothelial cell carcinoma of the bladder: can it make a difference?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We compared extended and limited lymph node dissections performed during radical cystectomy with regard to impact on survival and time to recurrence in bladder cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 170 patients who underwent radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma between January 1997 and December 2005. From 1997 to 2000, 69 of the patients were subjected to limited lymph dissection that included perivesical nodes and nodes in the obturator fossa. In 2001-2005, the remaining 101 patients underwent extended lymph dissection that included perivesical nodes; nodes in the obturator fossa; the internal, external, and common iliac nodes; and the presacral nodes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tumors penetrating the bladder wall (pT3 and pT4a) were more common in the extended than in the limited dissection group (48 and 33%, respectively). The median numbers of lymph nodes removed in the two groups were 37 and 8, respectively. Lymph node metastases were detected in 38% of the extended dissection patients but only in 17% of the limited dissection patients. There was no significant difference in survival or time to recurrence between the two groups. Subgroup analyses showed a significantly longer time to recurrence (HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.22-0.93; P = 0.032) in patients with non-organ-confined disease who underwent extended lymph node dissection. In a multivariate analysis adjusting for tumor stage, lymph node status, age, sex, and adjuvant chemotherapy, there was a significantly improved survival (HR 0.47, 95% CI 0.25-0.88; P = 0.018) and time to recurrence (HR 0.42, 95% CI 0.23-0.79; P = 0.007) in the patients with extended lymph node dissections.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Extended lymph node dissection did not improve disease-specific survival, but was in multivariate analysis related to significantly improved disease-specific survival and prolonged time to recurrence in radical cystectomy patients. These results should be interpreted cautiously, since they might have been affected by stage migration and the shorter follow-up in the extended dissection group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Lund University Hospital, 221 85 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holmer
authors.forename: Pär-Ola
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Bendahl
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Davidsson
authors.forename: Sigurdur
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gudjonsson
authors.forename: Wiking
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Månsson
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liedberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D015653:Cystectomy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000517:prevention & control; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000517:prevention & control; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D019459:Urothelium