Five-year follow-up results of a collaborative study of therapies for carcinoma of the bladder.

Results after 5 years of follow-up in a cooperative trial of therapies for operable bladder cancer confirmed preliminary indications of a beneficial effect of preoperative irradiation. Improved survival was experienced by the one-third of the irradiated patients who experienced complete eradication of the tumor as indicated from the resected specimen 30-60 days after a 30-day course of 4,500 rads. These patients had a 55% chance of surviving 5 years as opposed to a 32% chance for those where irradiation did not eradicate the tumor, or similarly for those not irradiated. A postoperative course of chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracial appeared to act detrimentally when given to patients irradiated preoperatively, but may have had a slight benefit when given after surgery alone.