Laparoscopic radical cystectomy for cancer: oncological outcomes at up to 5 years

OBJECTIVE: To report the oncological outcomes at or =pT2 in 26, 70%). Two patients had a positive surgical margin. The median (range) number of lymph nodes excised was 14 (2-24); seven patients (17%) had node-positive disease (pN1). Follow-up data were available for 35 patients (95%); eight (22%) completed > or = 5 years of follow-up, and the mean (range) follow-up was 31 (1-66) months. At the last follow-up, 24 patients (65%) were alive with no evidence of disease and 11 (30%) were dead, two (5%) from metastasis and nine (24%) from unrelated causes. The 5-year actuarial overall, cancer-specific and recurrence-free survival was 63%, 92% and 92%, respectively. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first report of < or = 5-year follow-up after LRC; the data suggest that LRC provides oncological outcomes comparable to contemporary series of open RC.