Carcinoma of the urinary bladder (comparison with radical, simple, and partial cystectomy and intravesical formalin)

The experience with cystectomy in the treatment of vesical cancer at the Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital (EFSCH), from 1940 to 1971, is reviewed. Results in recent years have been improved with the use of an abdominoperineal radical cystectomy allowing removal of the urethra in continuity with total removal of the bladder, perivesical fat and lymph nodes, prostate, and urethra. Intravesical instillation of formaldehyde for fixation of tumor cells is described as a precaution against implantation metastases. The present survival rates from radical abdominoperineal cystectomy with urethrectomy in continuity continue to be gratifying. For all stages of disease, this technique appears equal to partial, simple, or radical abdominal cystectomy and clearly produces superior results with the deeply invasive tumors.