Introduction: Clinical results of radical cystectomy performed on elderly bladder cancer patients over 70 years old were assessed to determine whether age is one of the critical points for the application of this type of surgery.
Materials: From January 1992 to December 2002, 41 radical cystectomy performed in septuagenarian population were compared with 197 performed in patients less than 70 years of age.
Results: The early and late complication rate for septuagenarians was 29.7% and 12%, compared with 26.9% and 9.6% for patients younger than 70 years respectively. The overall mortality rate for septuagenarians was 4.9%, compared with 8.6% for patients younger than 70 years. There was no significant difference between the two groups with regard to pathologic stage or length of hospital stay. The 5-year overall survival rate for septuagenarians was 53% compared with 59% for patients younger than 70 years.
Conclusions: When indicated after adequate preoperative assessment and optimization of the patient, radical cystectomy is a safe procedure in the septuagenarians and patient should not be denied surgery dependent on chronologic age.