The surgical management of muscle invasive bladder cancer: a contemporary review

Abstract

Muscle-invasive bladder cancer is a potentially lethal disease with a high rate of cure if timely and effective therapy is applied while the disease is confined to the bladder or regional lymph nodes. Radical cystectomy is the gold standard to which all other local therapies including multimodality bladder-preserving strategies should be compared. Contemporary cystectomy combined with regional lymphadectomy may be performed with an acceptably low morbidity, provides unparalleled local control, and may result in durable disease-free survival even among patients with locoregional lymph node metastases. Refinements in surgical technique coupled with the expanded application of continent urinary diversion have resulted in excellent functional outcomes without compromising cancer control in properly selected patients. An increasing awareness of the importance of quality-of-life issues combined with an enhanced understanding of tumor biology have resulted in the surgical modifications which include an expanded role for lymphadectomy and preservation of uninvolved adjacent organs.