Bladder cancer treatment depends on the
stage (whether superficial or invasive) and type of the disease, the grade
of the tumour (how aggressive the cells look under the microscope) as well as the patient's age and overall
health. It may be classed as radical -
aiming to cure or palliative - aiming to control symptoms. Bladder cancer
treatment often in
combination include:-
-
Local resection -
removal of the affected part via a cystoscope
-
Immunotherapy -
injected via a catheter directly into the bladder, eg.
intravesicle BCG
-
Local chemotherapy - the
anticancer drug is injected via a catheter directly into the bladder,
these drugs affect malignant cells only within the organ, eg. intravesicle mitomycin-c
-
General surgery -
partial or radical cystectomy (removal of either a part or the whole organ
respectively) via an incision through the abdomen, radical cystectomy is
followed by reconstructive surgery to create an alternative way to
store and remove urine from the body
-
Radiation therapy
- localised treatment in the area of the abdomen and pelvis which uses high-energy radiation from x-rays to
kill malignant cells and shrink tumours
-
Systemic chemotherapy
-the use of anticancer drugs which are injected into a vein in the arm or
given by mouth. Systemic chemotherapy is not confined to a particular organ
only. It aims to treat the whole 'system' (body). These medicines can
attack malignant cells which have already spread to lymph nodes or other
organs.
|
