Bladder cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic, is a cancer that usually begins in the cells that line the inside of the bladder. While usually occurring in older adults, younger adults can receive a diagnosis as well. The treatment for this disease depends on the severity of the cancer and overall health of the patient.
Early-Stage Surgery Options
Transurethral resection of the bladder tumor is an option for early-stage bladder cancer and involves the removal of cancers that remain in the inner layers of the bladder, or cancers that have not spread to other areas. Transurethral resection is the most common surgery for bladder cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Any remaining cancer following the transurethral resection may be treated by burning the base of the tumor while looking at it with the cystoscope. Cancer can also be destroyed using the cystoscope and a high-energy laser. A segmental cystectomy is another type of surgery doctors can use for early-stage bladder cancers. During this procedure, the Mayo Clinic explains, the portion of the bladder containing the cancer cells is taken. A doctor performs this procedure only if bladder function remains normal.
Surgery for Invasive Bladder Cancer
When bladder cancer goes beyond the bladder, the doctor may choose to perform a radical cystectomy. During this procedure, the doctor removes the entire bladder and surrounding lymph nodes. The Mayo Clinic explains that men undergoing this procedure typically have their prostate removed as well, while it is necessary to remove the uterus, ovaries and a portion of the vagina in women.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy, a form of treatment incorporating the use of various drugs to destroy cancer cells, typically involves two or more drugs when treating bladder cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic. Sometimes given prior to surgery as a means of shrinking the tumor, making removal easier, this therapy is also used after surgery to help destroy cancer cells remaining that the doctor did not see.
Radiation
Sometimes given in combination with chemotherapy, radiation uses high-energy beams directed exactly at the site of the cancer to destroy any remaining cancer cells. Just as with chemotherapy, it can be administered before surgery to make tumor removal easier, or after to destroy remaining cells--this helps prevent the recurrence of bladder cancer. In some cases, radiation and chemotherapy are used together.
Biological Therapy
Known also as immunotherapy, biological therapy helps a person's own immune system fight cancer cells. The therapy is typically given through the urethra--the tube carrying urine from the inside of the body to the outside--and then directly into the bladder. Two types of biological drugs exist: The first is BCG, or Bacille Calmette-Guerin. This is a bacterium doctors use in the tuberculosis vaccine, and may cause blood in the urine or bladder irritation. The other is a man-made version of interferon, a protein made naturally by the immune system that helps the body fight infections. The man-made version--interferon alfa--may help the body fight bladder cancer, and in some cases is used together with BCG, the Mayo Clinic explains.
