Bladder Cancer Treatment
Once you have been diagnosed with invasive bladder cancer, it is very important to seek treatment right away. The goal of bladder cancer treatment is to stop the cancer before it spreads outside of the bladder. Surgery can cure only when all of the cancer is removed. If the tumor has spread outside of the [...]
Most alternative therapies have not been well studied, making it difficult to recommend any specific therapy. Supplements like bovine and shark cartilage are often touted as being active against cancer, but no good studies have yet been completed that show a convincing effect. Herbal remedies are also available, although none have been proven to be [...]
The best course of treatment for urachal carcinoma is not clear because it is such an uncommon tumor. Patients with metastases are treated primarily with chemotherapy. Patients without metastases usually are treated with a partial cystectomy that includes removal of the tumor and bladder adjacent to the tumor along with the urachal ligament, including the [...]
The treatment of choice currently for carcinoma in situ is intravesical therapy with BCG. Carcinoma in situ in most cases is not adequately treated by resection alone because it tends to be located diffusely throughout the bladder. Sixty to 70% of patients with carcinoma in situ will respond to a standard course of BCG. Although [...]
Superficial bladder cancer is a recurrent and potentially progressive disease. Most studies have shown that patients with a higher stage and/or grade have recurrences more frequently than do patients with a lower stage or grade. Approximately half of the lowest stage and grade tumors (Ta, Grade I/II) will recur, most of them in the first [...]
PDT is a new treatment that is still evolving. It is currently given only to patients with recurrent tumors who have failed BCG treatment. Newer sensitizing agents have improved its efficacy. In one study, 84% of patients with BCG-resistant papillary tumor had a complete response, and 75% of patients with carcinoma in situ had a [...]
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a cancer treatment that uses a drug and a certain type of laser light to kill cancer cells. A drug that is not active until it is exposed to the light is injected into a vein. The drug is picked up preferentially by the cancer cells, as opposed to normal cells. [...]
This question still creates some controversy. Based on the results of the studies, most experts recommend giving perioperative chemotherapy to almost everyone at the time of TURBT, unless the bladder is perforated during the surgery. The efficacy of all of the different agents seems about the same. A meta-analysis (a composite review of a number [...]
Perioperative chemotherapy refers to the practice of instilling one of the bladder chemotherapies immediately after TURBT, usually while you are still in the operating room or the recovery room. Traditionally, these intravesical therapies have been given after the bladder has healed, 2 to 3 weeks after surgery. Several studies in the last 10 years have [...]
TURBT is generally regarded as a low-risk procedure. It is typically performed as a day surgery procedure, meaning that you will not need to stay in the hospital overnight. As with any surgery that requires anesthesia, a small risk is associated with the anesthesia. This risk is higher if you have other conditions such as [...]
TURBT stands for transurethral Resection of a Bladder Tumor. It requires a specialized type of cystoscope that has been modified to include a mechanism to cut out bladder tumors. This specialized scope is called a resectoscope and is inserted the same way as a cystoscope. A wire loop is attached that can be extended back [...]