Purpose: To evaluate the effect of the number of dissected lymph nodes (LNs) during radical cystectomy on survival outcomes. Materials and Methods: Medical files of 211 patients who underwent cystectomy between 1996 and 2009 were retrospectively evaluated. Seventy-four patients were included in the study and divided into two groups regarding the median number of retrieved LNs (median number = 13); 36 patients in the 1 st and 38 in the 2 nd group. Radical cystectomy, urinary diversion, and

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... LN dissection were done in all the patients. When necessary, adjuvant chemotherapy was applied. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to compare survival outcomes of the groups. Results: Of 74 patients, 67 (90.5%) were men and 7 (9.5%) were women, with the mean age of 61.7 years (range, 39 to 83 years). Age distribution, pathologic stages, carcinoma in situ occurrence, adjuvant chemotherapy rates, LN involvement, and median follow-up period were similar in both groups. Mean dissected LNs number in the 1 st and 2 nd groups was 6.17 (range, 1 to 12) and 21.6 (range, 13 to 41), respectively. Five-year estimated overall survival rates were 24.5% and 60.5% (P = .002) while five-year estimated disease-specific survival rates were 43.7% and 74.4% (P = .049), respectively. Conclusion: Although exact guidelines are not described, it seems that dissection of high number of LNs during radical cystectomy is crucial.