Muscle-invasive bladder cancer has a high survival rate after radical surgery

The standard treatment for bladder cancer, especially high-grade invasive bladder cancer, is radical cystectomy and bilateral pelvic and iliac vascular lymph node dissection.

Most clinical studies have shown that for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, radical cystectomy is more effective than bladder-preserving treatments (transurethral resection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy) in terms of local recurrence and survival. And with the improvement of current surgical techniques and postoperative treatment measures, surgical mortality and complications (such as sexual dysfunction) have been significantly reduced. Generally speaking, male bladder cancer patients require complete removal of the bladder, prostate, seminal vesicles, and pelvic lymph nodes; while traditional radical cystectomy (or anterior pelvic organ resection) for female bladder cancer patients requires complete removal of the bladder, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, and anterior vaginal wall. Under the premise of ensuring that cancer control is not affected, some patients can retain pelvic organs and vagina.

Clinical data show that radical cystectomy for the treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer has the highest survival rate and the lowest local recurrence rate. The progression-free survival rate and overall survival rate of bladder cancer are significantly correlated with the pathological stage of the tumor, and the 5-year overall survival rate of bladder cancer patients is about 50%. Among them, patients with no lymph node metastasis and tumors confined to the bladder have a 5-year survival rate of about 80%; if the tumor breaks through the bladder and enters the fat around the bladder, or there is lymph node metastasis, then the patient's 5-year survival rate is only 35%~58%. It is worth emphasizing that for patients with lymph node metastasis, radical cystectomy and extended pelvic lymph node dissection can enable 35% of bladder cancer patients to achieve long-term survival.