Bladder tumour treatment in the aarhus region. 25 years of experience

We report on the clinical studies of bladder tumours carried out at the centre for oncology in the Aarhus area and describe the experience and results of the past three decades. The 1960's saw the replacement of intracavitary techniques with external megavoltage irradiation. In the 1970's a large-scale regional trial was conducted assessing irradiation, which was now the dominant treatment principle, at all stages of the disease. In the 1980's a country-wide randomized trial was designed to compare the effect of cystectomy and definitive irradiation and to address the quality of life question. The report also mentions several associated projects on epidemiology, diagnostics (urinary cytology, DNA distribution) and factors pertinent to treatment (radioprotective agents, CT-based dose planning). Finally, we describe a country-wide randomized trial on the use of adjuvant chemotherapy scheduled for the 1990's.