Immunotherapy takes advantage of the methods used by our own immune system to attack cancer cells. There are two types of immunotherapy: passive or active. Passive immunotherapy involves the direct administration by doctors of molecules...
Intravesical therapy is said to be therapeutic when it is used to kill visible tumor cells. Some patients are unable to have their entire tumor(s) removed with TURBT because of the location or extent of...
Intravesical therapy is treatment for bladder cancer that is applied directly into the bladder. It can be either immunotherapy or chemotherapy. The most common type of immunotherapy is BCG. BCG is immunotherapy that may be...
Most alternative therapies have not been well studied, making it difficult to recommend any specific therapy. Supplements like bovine and shark cartilage are often touted as being active against cancer, but no good studies have...
The best course of treatment for urachal carcinoma is not clear because it is such an uncommon tumor. Patients with metastases are treated primarily with chemotherapy. Patients without metastases usually are treated with a partial...
The treatment of choice currently for carcinoma in situ is intravesical therapy with BCG. Carcinoma in situ in most cases is not adequately treated by resection alone because it tends to be located diffusely throughout...
Superficial bladder cancer is a recurrent and potentially progressive disease. Most studies have shown that patients with a higher stage and/or grade have recurrences more frequently than do patients with a lower stage or grade....
PDT is a new treatment that is still evolving. It is currently given only to patients with recurrent tumors who have failed BCG treatment. Newer sensitizing agents have improved its efficacy. In one study, 84%...
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a cancer treatment that uses a drug and a certain type of laser light to kill cancer cells. A drug that is not active until it is exposed to the light...
This question still creates some controversy. Based on the results of the studies, most experts recommend giving perioperative chemotherapy to almost everyone at the time of TURBT, unless the bladder is perforated during the surgery....
Perioperative chemotherapy refers to the practice of instilling one of the bladder chemotherapies immediately after TURBT, usually while you are still in the operating room or the recovery room. Traditionally, these intravesical therapies have been...
TURBT is generally regarded as a low-risk procedure. It is typically performed as a day surgery procedure, meaning that you will not need to stay in the hospital overnight. As with any surgery that requires...
TURBT stands for transurethral Resection of a Bladder Tumor. It requires a specialized type of cystoscope that has been modified to include a mechanism to cut out bladder tumors. This specialized scope is called a...
Sometimes you may feel that it is necessary to get a second opinion. You may have concerns about the treatment recommendations or may worry that there are other options that have not been presented. If...
Once you have been diagnosed with invasive bladder cancer, you should try to select a urologist and oncologist who deal with bladder cancer on a regular basis. Several issues should be considered when you select...
Although cytology has long been the gold standard for bladder cancer screening, including monitoring for recurrences, it is far from perfect (see Question 33), and there is great interest in finding an even better test....
Do I Need To Worry? This is what is usually called a “false-positive” test result. The test was positive in a case where it seems that it should have been negative. Any medical test has...
Urine cytology is commonly used to screen for bladder cancer in patients who have hematuria as well as to monitor for recurrences in patients who are being treated for bladder cancer. Overall, urine cytology is...
Carcinoma in situ can be difficult to see during a routine cystoscopy. Your urologist may take random biopsies of the bladder and send them to pathology, hoping to catch the area that has carcinoma in...
“Upper tract studies” are evaluations that your doctor does of your kidneys and ureters. The lining of the bladder is the urothelium. The same urothelium also lines the ureters and the inside of the kidneys....
In addition to determining the grade of the tumor, the pathologist will determine the stage of the tumor, which refers to the extent of the cancer and therefore the chances that it has spread beyond...
The pathologist grades a tumor based on how the cells look under the microscope. The tumor cells can appear close to normal (low grade) or more aggressive and angry (high grade). As you might expect,...
Is This Normal? What Can I Do To Get Back To The Way I Used To Be? The diagnosis of bladder cancer comes as a shock to most individuals. In most individuals, the only symptom/sign...
Each individual is different, and each relationship is different; thus, it is hard to generalize about how each of you and the two of you together will react. In general, there are different aspects of...
An important part of your doctor’s evaluation for hematuria is cystoscopy, either in the office or in the operating room. Sometimes your doctor can tell just by looking at your bladder wall through the cystoscope...