How is bladder cancer treated?
A. This depends on how advanced the cancer is. For early cancer, a simple operation, using a similar thin flexible tube inserted via the urethra, is followed by drug or vaccine treatment. Some cases of early bladder cancer can be treated by adding either cancer drugs, or the BCG vaccine, directly to the contents of the bladder. More advanced cancers require either radiotherapy or an operation to remove part or all of the bladder. This type of operation has a serious side effect. The patient is unable to urinate properly afterwards and has to use a catheter and urine bag. Radiotherapy does not have this side effect, but it may not be as effective at curing the cancer. Often these treatments will be followed by a course of anti-cancer drugs.
Stage and extend of the bladder cancer dictates the treatment plan. Early bladder cancers are often treated by the urologist. Treatment decision on advanced bladder cancer is often taken by a specialist team, which often includes an oncologist, urologist and radiation oncologist. Cancer confined to the most Superficial layers of the bladder The standard treatment for bladder cancer which is mainly confined to the most superficial layers of the bladder is surgical removal using a cystoscope. Patients who are at higher risk for reappearance of cancer may also receive bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) therapy after surgery. BCG uses inactivated tuberculosis bacteria to produce an inflammatory response in the bladder that controls tumor growth. Cancer involving the more deeper layers of the bladder Removal of bladder by surgery the most common treatment for bladder cancer that is involving the deeper layers and the provides the best chance for a cure of the disease. The surrounding lymph node
