Contemporary results of radical radiotherapy for bladder transitional cell carcinoma in a district general hospital with cancer‐centre status

OBJECTIVE: To assess the current efficacy and safety of definitive external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in the treatment of invasive bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) in a district general hospital with cancer-centre status. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The case notes of all patients with bladder TCC undergoing EBRT with curative intent over an 8-year period (1988-95) were reviewed. Additional missing outcome data were collected. RESULTS: In all, 120 patients (109 men; median age 70 years, range 34-90) underwent radical EBRT (40-65 Gy; fraction median=20) over the 8-year period. Staging, as assessed by examination under anaesthesia and computed tomography, was T1 in 16%, T2 in 43%, T3 in 38% and T4 in 3%. In 96 patients (80%) the tumour was poorly differentiated (G3). The overall morbidity at 12 months was 12%; proctitis occurred in nine patients (8%) and cystitis in five (4%). Sixty-seven patients (59%) developed a local recurrence and in 36 (30%) this was invasive. The overall median survival was 60 months. Thirty-three patients underwent salvage cystectomy with a subsequent median survival of 12.5 months. CONCLUSION: Modern radical multifraction EBRT in invasive bladder TCC has a low morbidity, with an overall median survival of 5 years.