Results of bladder-conserving treatment, consisting of brachytherapy combined with limited surgery and external beam radiotherapy, for patients with solitary T1-T3 bladder tumors less than 5 cm in diameter

PURPOSE: To evaluate the long-term, local relapse-free, distant metastasis-free, and overall survival rates in patients with a solitary bladder tumor <5 cm in diameter who were treated with external beam radiotherapy, limited surgery, and brachytherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The results of 122 patients after bladder-saving treatment were analyzed. After EBRT, the patients underwent cystotomy, and catheters were implanted. Of the 122 patients, 99 were treated with a continuous low-dose-rate technique and 23 patients with a pulsed-dose-rate technique. The median follow-up period was 5 years. RESULTS: The 5-year local and distant relapse-free survival rate was 76% and 83%, respectively. The 5 and 10-year relapse-free survival rate was 69% and 66%, respectively. For overall survival, the corresponding rates were 73% and 49%. Toxicity was low. No differences were found between the continuous low-dose-rate and pulsed-dose-rate groups. CONCLUSION: The results of our study have shown that external beam radiotherapy followed by brachytherapy as a bladder-saving treatment for a selected group of patients with bladder cancer yields excellent local tumor control and low toxicity.