As you process yourdiagnosis, moving forward with treatment is crucial to optimizing your health and recovery.
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Surgery
Let’s start by discussing the procedural options for bladder cancer treatment.
This procedure removes the tumor from the bladder.
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The resectoscope contains a wire loop that allows the doctor to remove the tumor.
Most people can go home the same day or the next day after TURBT.
Also, side effects, like bleeding or discomfort when urinating, are typically short-lived and mild.
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In other words, it is a big deal.
This means, that after each treatment, you will rest and be monitored for any adverse side effects.
With this jot down of therapy, medication is administered directly into the bladder through a catheter.
The purpose of the chemotherapy is to destroy any leftover, non-visible cancer cells.
Mitomycin is often the chemotherapy of choice administered.
It may cause some burning in the bladder as well as frequent and/or painful urination.
This pop in of therapy triggers a person’s immune system to kill cancer cells.
It’s interesting to note that Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) was initially developed as a vaccine for tuberculosis.
But, in the 1970s and 1980s, it was found to kill bladder cancer cells, too.
Rarely, BCG can spread to the body.
A whole-body infection is a serious medical emergency and requires immediate medical attention.
Anktiva is FDA-approved for the treatment of adults with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC with carcinoma in situ (CIS).
Rather, they may undergo a partial removal of their bladder or a more extensive TURBT.
Radiation kills cancer cells and treatment sessions typically last five days a week for several weeks.
CT scan) will also often be done periodically as a further means of monitoring.
If a suspicious area of the bladder is seen, it will be biopsied and removed with TURBT.
Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
If a patient’s cancer continues to worsen during or after chemotherapy,immunotherapyis generally the next approach.
Immunotherapy is also considered if a patient cannot take chemotherapy.
There are five immunotherapy drugs approved formetastatic bladder cancer.
All of these drugs are checkpoint inhibitors.
In this instance, know that it is OK to relay your thoughts to your family andoncologist.
This, of course, is an extremely personal and unique decision.
Mitomycin is an antibiotic used exclusively in cancer chemotherapy.
A cystoscopy is a procedure used to look inside the bladder and/or urethra to diagnose possible issues.
It is usually performed three months after intravesical therapy to check that the bladder cancer hasn’t reappeared.
The cystoscope itself is a thin tube inserted through the urethra and into the bladder.
A small camera attached to the tube shares a live video feed to the doctor performing the procedure.
Babjuk et al.EAU Guidelines on non-muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.Eur Urol.
Chang et al.Diagnosis and treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: AUA/SUO guideline.J Urol.
Konala VM, Adapa S, Aronow WS.Immunotherapy in Bladder Cancer.Am J Ther.
2019 Feb 28. doi:10.1097/MJT.0000000000000934
Stephenson AJ.
Overview of the initial approach and management of urothelial bladder cancer.
In: UpToDate, Lerner SP, Ross ME (Eds), UpToDate, Waltham, MA.
