In order to assess the potential benefits of radical cystectomy in bladder cancer associated with pelvic lymph node metastasis, a retrospective study compared 2 groups of patients with T2-T3 N+ bladder cancer: 10 treated by radical cystectomy and 14 treated conservatively once the diagnosis of nodal metastasis had been established by fine needle node aspiration or lymphadenectomy. The survival rates were identical in both groups: 80% of the patients died within 2 years, 60% during the first year after diagnosis, mainly due to distant metastasis. No patient in the conservative arm required salvage cystectomy because of local progression. It is concluded that radical cystectomy is of little benefit in T2-T3 N+ bladder cancer, a disease which is no longer amenable to purely local treatment.