The survival of patients with bladder tumors treated by surgery: comparative results of an old and a recent series.

A review of a large number of patients with bladder tumors treated primarily by an operation during approximately 4 decades indicates that survival of patients with papillomas and superficial carcinomas essentially was unchanged. Recently, patients with invasive cancers who have been treated have enjoyed a modest improvement in the 5-year survival rate, which was at least in part the result of a diminished postoperative mortality rate.