Description of Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the bladder. The bladder, a hollow organ in the lower part of the abdomen, stores urine. It is shaped like a small balloon, and it has a muscular wall that allows it to get larger or smaller. Urine is the liquid waste that is made by the kidneys when they clean the blood. The urine passes from the two kidneys into the bladder through two tubes called ureters. When the bladder is emptied during urination, the urine goes from the bladder to the outside of the body through another tube called the urethra.

Like most cancers, cancer of the bladder is best treated when it is found (diagnosed) early. You should see your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms: blood in the urine (urine that looks bright red or rusty), pain when you urinate, passing urine often, or feeling like you need to urinate but nothing comes out.

If you have symptoms, your doctor may use several tests to see if you have cancer of the bladder. Your urine may be sent to a laboratory for tests to see if any cancer cells are present. The doctor may also do an internal examination by inserting gloved fingers into the vagina and/or rectum to feel for lumps. Your doctor may then order a special x-ray called an intravenous pyelogram (IVP). For this x-ray, a special dye containing iodine is given to you through a needle inserted into a vein. The dye then goes into the urine, making the bladder easier to see on the x-rays. You may feel warm as the dye is given.

Your doctor may also look directly into the bladder with a thin lighted tube called a cystoscope. The cystoscope is inserted into the bladder through the urethra. If tissue that is not normal is found, your doctor will need to cut out a small piece of this tissue and look at it under the microscope to see if there are any cancer cells. This procedure is called a biopsy. Other special x-rays may also be done to help diagnose cancer of the bladder.

Your chance of recovery (prognosis) and choice of treatment depend on the stage of your cancer (whether it is just in the lining of the bladder or has spread to other places in the body) and your general state of health.

Stages Of Cancer Of The Bladder

Once cancer of the bladder has been diagnosed, more tests will be done to find out if cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body (staging). To plan treatment, your doctor needs to know the stage of your disease. The following stages are used for cancer of the bladder:

Stage 0 Or Carcinoma In Situ Stage 0 is very early cancer. The cancer is found only on the inner lining of the bladder. After the cancer is taken out, no swelling or lumps are felt during an internal examination.

Stage I Cancer cells have spread a little deeper into the inner lining of the bladder but have not spread to the muscular wall of the bladder.

Stage II Cancer cells have spread to the inside lining of the muscles lining the bladder.

Stage III Cancer cells have spread throughout the muscular wall of the bladder, to the layer of tissue surrounding the bladder and/or to the nearby reproductive organs. Your doctor may feel swelling or lumps after you have had an operation to take out the cancer.

Stage IV Cancer cells have spread to the wall of the abdomen or pelvis or to the lymph nodes in the area. (Lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped structures that are found throughout the body; they produce and store infection-fighting cells.) The cancer may have also spread to lymph nodes and other parts of the body far away from the bladder.

Recurrent Recurrent disease means that the cancer has come back (recurred) after it has been treated. It may come back in the original place or in another part of the body.

How Cancer Of The Bladder Is Treated

There are treatments for all patients with cancer of the bladder. Four kinds of treatment are used: surgery (taking out the cancer in an operation) radiation therapy (using high-dose x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors) chemotherapy (using drugs to kill cancer cells) biological therapy (using the body’s immune system to fight cancer).

A new type of treatment called photodynamic therapy is being tested in clinical trials.

Surgery is a common treatment for cancer of the bladder. Your doctor may take out the cancer using one of the following operations:

Transurethral resection is an operation that uses a cystoscope inserted into the bladder through the urethra. The doctor then uses a tool with a small wire loop on the end to remove the cancer or to burn the tumor away with high-energy electricity (fulguration).

Segmental cystectomy is an operation to take out the part of the bladder where the cancer is found. Because bladder cancer often occurs in more than one part of the bladder, this operation is used only in selected cases where the cancer is in one area.

Cystectomy is an operation to take out the bladder.

Radical cystectomy is an operation to take out the bladder and the tissue around it. In women, the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, part of the vagina, and urethra are also removed. In men, the prostate and the glands that produce fluid that is part of the semen (seminal vesicles) are also removed, and the urethra may be removed as well. The lymph nodes in the pelvis may also be taken out (pelvic lymph node dissection).

Urinary diversion is an operation to make a way for urine to pass out of the body so that it does not go through the bladder. It is used to relieve bladder symptoms when the tumor has spread.

If your bladder is removed, your doctor will need to make a new way for you to store and pass urine. There are several ways to do this. Sometimes your doctor will use part of the small intestine to make a tube through which urine can pass out of the body through an opening (stoma) on the outside of the body. This procedure is sometimes called an ostomy or urostomy.

If you have an ostomy, you will need to wear a special bag to collect urine. This special bag, which sticks to the skin around the stoma with a special glue, can be thrown away after it is used. The bag does not show under clothing and most people take care of these bags themselves. The doctor may also use part of your small intestine to make a new storage pouch (a continent reservoir) inside the body where urine can collect. You would then need to use a tube (catheter) to drain the urine through the stoma. Newer methods use a part of the small intestine to make a new storage pouch that is connected to the remaining part of the urethra if it has not been removed. Urine then passes out of the body through the urethra, and a stoma is not necessary.

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put in the body through a needle inserted into a vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells outside the bladder. Chemotherapy may also be given in a fluid that is put into the bladder through a tube going through the urethra (intravesical chemotherapy).

If your doctor removes all the cancer that can be seen at the time of the operation, you may be given chemotherapy after surgery to kill any cancer cells that are left. Chemotherapy given after an operation to a person who has no cancer cells that can be seen is called adjuvant chemotherapy. For bladder cancer, chemotherapy is sometimes given before surgery to try to improve results or to preserve the bladder. Chemotherapy given in this manner is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is being carefully studied in a clinical trial sponsored by the National Cancer Institute.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external radiation therapy) or from putting materials that produce radiation (radioisotopes) through thin plastic tubes in the area where the cancer cells are found (internal radiation therapy).

Biological therapy tries to get your body to fight cancer. It uses materials made by your body or made in a laboratory to boost, direct, or restore your body’s natural defenses against disease. Biological therapy is sometimes called biological response modifier (BRM) therapy or immunotherapy. Biological therapy may be given in a fluid that is put into the bladder through a tube going through the urethra (intravesical biological therapy).

Photodynamic therapy is a new type of treatment that uses special drugs and light to kill cancer cells. A drug that makes cancer cells more sensitive to light is put into the bladder, and a special light is used to shine on the bladder. This therapy is being studied for early stages of bladder cancer.

Treatment By Stage

Treatment of cancer of the bladder depends on the stage of your disease, the type of your disease, your age, and your overall condition.

You may receive treatment that is considered standard based on its effectiveness in a number of patients in past studies, or you may choose to go into a clinical trial. Not all patients are cured with standard therapy, and some standard treatments may have more side effects than are desired. For these reasons, clinical trials are designed to find better ways to treat cancer patients and are based on the most up-to-date information. Clinical trials are going on in most parts of the country for most stages of cancer of the bladder. If you want more information, call the Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237); TTY at 1-800-332-8615.

STAGE 0 BLADDER CANCER

Your treatment may be one of the following: 1. Removal of the cancer using a cystoscope inserted through the urethra to cut out the tumor and burn away any remaining cancer cells (transurethral resection with fulguration). 2. Transurethral resection with fulguration followed by intravesical chemotherapy or biological therapy. 3. Surgery to remove part of the bladder (segmental cystectomy). 4. Intravesical chemotherapy or intravesical biological therapy alone. Clinical trials are evaluating new agents to be given this way. 5. Surgery to remove the whole bladder and organs around it (radical cystectomy). 6. A clinical trial of photodynamic therapy. 7. A clinical trial of intravesical biological therapy. 8. After you have been treated for the cancer, you may be given agents to prevent the cancer from coming back.

STAGE I BLADDER CANCER

Your treatment may be one of the following: 1. Removal of the cancer using a cystoscope inserted through the urethra to cut out the tumor and burn away any remaining cancer cells (transurethral resection with fulguration). 2. Transurethral resection and fulguration followed by intravesical chemotherapy or biological therapy. 3. Intravesical chemotherapy or biological therapy alone. 4. Surgery to remove part of the bladder (segmental cystectomy). 5. Surgery to remove the whole bladder and organs around it (radical cystectomy). 6. Internal radiation therapy with or without external-beam radiation therapy. 7. A clinical trial of agents to prevent the cancer from coming back after you have been treated for cancer. 8. A clinical trial of intravesical therapy.

STAGE II BLADDER CANCER

Your treatment may be one of the following: 1. Surgery to remove the whole bladder and the organs around it (radical cystectomy). The lymph nodes in the pelvis may also be removed (lymph node dissection). 2. External-beam radiation therapy alone. 3. Internal radiation therapy before or after external-beam radiation therapy. 4. Internal radiation therapy alone. 5. Removal of the cancer using a cystoscope inserted through the urethra to cut out the tumor and burn away any remaining cancer cells (transurethral resection with fulguration). 6. Surgery to remove part of the bladder (segmental cystectomy). 7. Clinical trials of systemic chemotherapy before cystectomy (neoadjuvant chemotherapy) or after cystectomy (adjuvant chemotherapy). 8. A clinical trial of systemic chemotherapy plus radiation therapy.

STAGE III BLADDER CANCER

Your treatment may be one of the following: 1. Radical cystectomy. The lymph nodes in the pelvis may also be removed (pelvic lymph node dissection). 2. External radiation therapy. 3. External-beam and internal radiation therapy. 4. Surgery to remove part of the bladder (segmental cystectomy). 5. Internal radiation therapy. 6. External-beam radiation and chemotherapy. 7. A clinical trial of systemic chemotherapy before cystectomy (neoadjuvant chemotherapy) or after cystectomy (adjuvant chemotherapy). 8. A clinical trial of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to allow you to keep your bladder.

STAGE IV BLADDER CANCER

If you have stage IV bladder cancer that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes, but not to other parts of the body, your treatment may be one of the following: 1. Radical cystectomy. 2. External-beam radiation therapy. 3. Surgery to make a way for urine to flow out of the body so that it does not go into the bladder (urinary diversion), to reduce symptoms. 4. Surgery to remove the bladder (cystectomy) to relieve symptoms. 5. Systemic chemotherapy by itself or in addition to surgery. 6. A clinical trial of systemic chemotherapy before cystectomy (neoadjuvant chemotherapy) or after cystectomy (adjuvant chemotherapy). 7. A clinical trial of chemotherapy and radiation therapy to allow you to keep your bladder.

If the cancer is found in lymph nodes or other places far away from the bladder, your treatment may be one of the following: 1. External-beam radiation therapy. 2. Surgery to make a way for urine to pass out of the body without going through the bladder (urinary diversion) to reduce symptoms. 3. Surgery to remove the bladder (cystectomy) and to make a urinary diversion to reduce symptoms. 4. Systemic chemotherapy alone or in addition to surgery. 5. A clinical trial of chemotherapy.

RECURRENT BLADDER CANCER

If your cancer comes back only in the bladder, treatment may be surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy, depending on what treatment you received when you first got your cancer. If your cancer comes back following surgery to remove all of the bladder, you may receive chemotherapy. You may also choose to participate in a clinical trial.

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