Treatment for Bladder Cancer

Treatment for bladder cancer can be done with surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or immunotherapy, and the choice of treatment is made with the oncologist after assessment of the size, development, and location of the cancer.

The chance of healing bladder cancer in the early stages of the disease is great, but with the spread of the disease and spread of cancer, the possibility of cure is decreasing.

Thus, early diagnosis is very important and therefore it is essential to be alert to symptoms that may indicate bladder cancer such as painful urination, urgency to urinate, blood in the urine, urinary incontinence or tummy ache, for example. See a more complete list of symptoms of this type of cancer.

1. Surgery

Surgery is the treatment most used to treat this type of cancer, but it only has good results when the tumor is in the early stages and is localized. Some surgical procedures that may be used are:

• Transurethral resection : involves scraping, withdrawing or burning the tumor when it is small in size and located on the surface of the bladder;
• Segmental cystectomy : consists of the removal of the part of the bladder affected by the tumor;
• Radical cystectomy : performed in advanced stages of the disease and consists of total removal of the bladder.

In total removal of the bladder can also be removed lymph nodes, or other organs near the bladder that may have cancer cells. In the case of men, the removed organs are the prostate, the seminal vesicle and part of the vas deferens. In women, the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes and part of the vagina are removed.

Some of the side effects of surgery for bladder cancer are blood in the urine, pain or difficulty passing urine, impotence, loss of libido, the onset of early menopause in women, or problems with ejaculation.

2. Immunotherapy with BCG

Immunotherapy uses drugs that stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells and is most often used in cases of bladder cancer or to prevent new cancer growth after surgery, for example.

The remedy used in immunotherapy is BCG, a solution that contains live and weakened bacteria that are introduced into the bladder through a catheter, which will stimulate the immune system to kill the cancer cells. The patient should keep the BCG solution in the bladder for about 2 hours and the treatment is performed once a week for 6 weeks.

The side effects of BCG for bladder cancer may be urgent need and pain when urinating, blood in the urine, fever, tiredness and chills.

3. Radiation therapy

This type of treatment uses radiation to kill the cancer cells and can be performed before surgery, to reduce the size of the tumor, or after surgery, to eliminate cancer cells that may still remain.

Radiation therapy can be done externally, through an apparatus that infers radiation over the bladder region, or through internal radiation, in which a device is placed in the bladder that releases the radioactive substance. Treatment is done 5 times a week for 5 or 7 weeks.

The side effects of radiation therapy may be:

• Skin burns in the region affected by the treatment;
• Nausea;
• Vomiting;
• Diarrhea;
• Urinary discomfort;
• Vaginal dryness;
• Difficulties of erection.

Rest is important to recover from the side effects of radiation therapy, and some medicines may also be taken to decrease some of the adverse reactions.

4. Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy for bladder cancer uses drugs to kill cancer cells, and only one drug or combination of two can be used.

In patients with superficial bladder cancer, a physician may use intravesical chemotherapy, where the medicine is introduced directly into the bladder through a catheter, and then works for several hours. This treatment is performed once a week for several weeks.

In cases where cancer has invaded other organs, chemotherapy should be administered through the vein over several treatment cycles, which increases the risk of adverse reactions such as hair loss, nausea, vomiting, mouth sores or loss of appetite, for example.