A recent study has shown that extracapsular extension (ECE) of the lymph nodes in patients with bladder cancer is no longer a bad prognostic finding. ECE is caused when cancer cells break through the capsule of the lymph node and can spread to nearby tissues.
The study suggests that, with the new adoption of combined therapies instead of single treatment modalities, extracapsular extension is not considered a poor prognostic factor. At this time in the treatment for bladder cancer ECE does not carry as much weight as was previously believed. The researchers evaluated 108 patients with bladder cancer who underwent radical cystectomy. ECE involved lymph nodes was present in 41 percent of patients but the findings concluded that it was not significantly associated with overall survival or relapse free survival.
