Percutaneous transabdominal fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the pelvic and retroperitoneal lymph nodes was performed in 116 patients with bladder cancer. Metastasis to the regional lymph nodes was determined by this method in 21 patients. FNAB was positive in 10 of 12 patients having unequivocally positive or highly suspicious lymphogram, and in 11 of 104 patients (11%) having normal lymphogram. The results of FNAB were compared to the finding of lymph node dissection (LND) in 51 patients. FNAB and LND were negative in 43 patients and positive in 5. Two patients were FNAB negative but LND positive, and the remaining one case was FNAB positive but LND negative. The correlation between cytological diagnosis of FNAB and histological diagnosis of LND was 94 per cent. The survival rate of the cases of FNAB positive and lymphography negative was significantly higher than that of lymphography positive (p less than 0.01). The metastatic site of 5 cases with bladder cancer who are alive now without disease after more than 3 years was under the common iliac node and the number of the involved nodes was within 3.