How is the extent of the cancer determined?
The process of determining the extent of a tumor and planning the right treatment is known as STAGING the disease. The tests used to STAGE the cancer depend on the amount of cancer found in the bladder at the time of the resection and biopsy. If the biopsies from the tumor or cancer reveal early or low-stage cancer, spread of the cancer outside the bladder is very uncommon. This means that additional studies often used for advanced cancer — such as chest X-ray, bone scans, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and CT or CAT (computed axial tomography) scans — are not needed. Top Back What are the surgical procedures used? Surgery for early or superficial bladder cancer Most early bladder cancers are biopsied and removed through an endoscope, a thin telescopic tube inserted into the urethra and then into the bladder. This is usually referred to as transurethral resection. This type of removal is effective for those cancers, usually the papillary type, which have NOT invaded the bladder mus
