Management of adult sarcomas of the bladder and prostate

Historically, survival of patients with adult pelvic sarcoma of the bladder and prostate has been poor. Between November 1974 and November 1984 we treated 11 patients with leiomyosarcoma: 7 with primary bladder and 4 with prostate tumors. Patients with nonbulky disease underwent surgical resection and were observed if the margins and nodes were negative. Patients with positive surgical margins or nodes were treated adjunctively with external beam radiotherapy, 4,500 to 5,000 rad, and chemotherapy. Patients with bulky disease were treated with preoperative chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy followed by an exenterative operation. Of the 11 patients 9 are without evidence of disease with a mean followup of 61 months (range 35 to 96 months). One patient was lost to followup after 4 months and 1 died of disease after 11 months. Three patients with rhabdomyosarcoma were treated and 1 had no evidence of disease 24 months after therapy. Two patients died at 4 and 18 months.