[Adjuvant chemotherapy after cystectomy of bladder tumor]

Adjuvant chemotherapy mainly consisting of cisplatin, adriamycin and mitomycin C was administered to 17 patients after cystectomy for bladder tumor (chemotherapy group). Seventeen concurrently treated patients did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy (control group). From the comparison of survival curves of these two groups, the following results were obtained. 1) Survival curves of the patients in all stages did not differ significantly between chemotherapy and control groups. 2) Among patients in stage pT3, pT4 and/or N+, survival of the chemotherapy group seemed to have some advantage over that of the control group, but the survival curves did not differ significantly between these two groups. 3) Among patients in N+, survival of the chemotherapy group was far better than that of the usual cases. Review of the literature on adjuvant chemotherapy after cystectomy for bladder tumor revealed the necessity of randomized study to determine whether adjuvant chemotherapy is effective.