Innovations in radical cystectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection

Radical cystectomy with bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy remains the gold standard in the surgical management of muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder and provides optimal locoregional cancer control in conjunction with perioperative cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Improvements in preoperative staging can aid in the identification of patients who may optimally benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy and determine candidacy for orthotopic neobladder reconstruction. Innovations in surgical technique and perioperative care have helped to minimize patient morbidity and preserve long-term urinary and sexual function while maintaining oncologic control. The use of minimally invasive surgical approaches has grown dramatically in urologic surgery over the past decade and the preliminary results of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy have been reported recently. Anatomic pelvic and iliac lymphadenectomy is crucial for precise pathologic staging and may improve patient survival by removing micrometastatic disease.