Early diagnosis and treatment can help doctors to reduce or cure bladder cancer. Depending on the stage and grade of the cancer, medical professionals can help you create a treatment plan for your case. Here are five ways bladder cancer is treated:
1. Surgery
Doctors may use surgical procedures to treat bladder cancer, depending on the stage and location. Some of their surgical options include transurethral resection, cystectomy, and pelvic lymph node dissection. Transurethral resection of bladder tumors helps diagnose and treat the cancer. During the procedure, a doctor uses a cystoscope to find and cut out tumors. After surgery, doctors use a urinary catheter to drain out any leftover debris and blood. A pathologist then examines the tumor to determine its growth extent in the bladder wall. Cystectomy involves the removal of the urinary bladder, and the surgeon creates a new way for your body to store and expel urine. Pelvic lymph node dissection allows your doctor to identify and remove cancerous lymph nodes. Doctors can perform a pelvic lymph node dissection during a partial or radical cystectomy.
2. Chemotherapy
Doctors use chemotherapy to treat bladder cancer in two ways. These include intravesical chemotherapy and systemic chemotherapy. Your doctor should use intravesical drugs to flush out the cancer cells remaining after surgery. Some of the drugs they use include gemcitabine and mitomycin. Intravesical chemotherapy treats cancer that has not invaded deep into the bladder lining, while systemic chemotherapy involves injecting drugs into the vein or muscles. The drugs travel and kill cancerous cells throughout the body. Doctors use systemic chemotherapy to shrink the cancer tumor before surgery. After surgery, doctors use adjuvant therapy to kill the remaining cancer cells.
3. Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy involves killing cancer cells using high-energy radiation. Doctors may use radiation therapy as a part of early-stage bladder cancer treatment. They conduct this therapy with chemotherapy using cisplatin and capecitabine drugs for better results. External beam radiation therapy focuses on radiation from outside the body. Radiation experts can find the correct angles to aim the radiation beams during a simulation. The procedure also provides doctors with imaging tests, including MRI and CT scans, that help doctors map where the tumor is located in the body.
4. Intravesical Therapy
With intravesical therapy, doctors deliver liquid drugs into the bladder using a urinary catheter. The treatment works to eradicate early-stage bladder cancer that is close to the bladder’s inner lining. Intravesical chemotherapy can be given in doses after a transurethral resection to lessen the reoccurrence of bladder tumors. Chemotherapy doses treat non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Doctors might use immunotherapy and chemotherapy medicines during intravesical therapy, which uses the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells. The intravesical immunotherapies that doctors use include Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, Nadoforagene firadenovec, and Anktiva.
5. Targeted Therapy
Your doctor may use drugs to target the changes that cause cells to become cancerous. They can use specific drugs where other treatments fail. Targeted drugs can include fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitors and antibody-drug conjugates. Fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitors treat advanced cancer, and antibody-drug conjugates consist of a chemotherapy drug linked to a monoclonal antibody. The antibody acts like a homing device, linking the chemotherapy to cancer cells.
Learn More About Bladder Cancer Treatment
Doctors can provide treatments to stop this cancer in its early stages or ease advanced-stage symptoms. They may also use invasive and non-invasive treatment options depending on the cancer’s severity. Contact a reputable urologist to learn more about their treatment options.
