Squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder

Medical and surgical pathological records were analyzed for 46 patients with pure squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder. Nine patients had metastatic disease at the time of presentation and the remainder had disease limited to the bladder. The 5-year survival figures were 37 per cent for patients with submucosal and/or muscular invasion, and 13 per cent for those with perivesical invasion. No patient with extravesical disease survived 5 years. The best survival figures were encountered in patients who had preoperative radiation therapy followed by total cystectomy and urinary diversion compared to other modalities of treatment. Encouraged by these results we recommend preoperative radiation therapy followed by cystectomy and urinary diversion as the treatment of choice for patients with this uncommon bladder neoplasm.