In this report we have analysed the long term survival after transurethral resection of the prostate in patients with cancer and benign hyperplasia, with special reference to the effect of bacteriuria. One hundred and eighty-nine men were followed for seven years after operation. Life tables according to the Kaplan-Meier method indicated a decreased survival rate for patients with preoperative catheter treatment and/or bacteriuria (p = 0.004 and p = 0.013, respectively). In order to evaluate the influence on the long-term survival of each of these factors alone as well as of other factors like diagnosis, age at operation and perioperative antibiotic treatment, a multivariate analysis, according to Cox proportional hazards method was made. This displayed a two-fold increase of mortality in the patients attributed to the catheter treatment per se, whereas bacteriuria alone was not associated with an increased risk of earlier death.