Q. How do they remove cancer from the bladder?
Doctor Answer is medically reviewed by SecondMedic medical review team.
Removing cancerous cells from the bladder involves different treatments, depending on the severity of the cancer. Generally speaking, a skilled urologist will assess the tumor and take into consideration factors such as size, location within the bladder, and aggressiveness of the cancer to determine an appropriate course of treatment.
In cases where tumors do not pose a threat to surrounding tissue and are confined to one area within the bladder they can often be removed with transurethral resection (TUR). During this procedure, a small endoscope is inserted through urethra in order to physically remove damaged tissue directly from inside the bladder.
If TUR is not suitable for removing all of a tumor or if it has spread beyond one area then additional treatments may be necessary. One option is radical cystectomy which surgically removes part or all of your bladder along with any visible tumor growths. In some cases radiation therapy may also be used in combination with surgery to reduce potential future relapse rates.
Finally chemotherapy drugs may also be recommended as part of an overall treatment plan when combined with other approaches such as TUR/cystectomy or radiation therapy for more aggressive forms of cancers that cannot effectively be treated by surgery alone. Chemotherapy drugs work by targeting rapidly dividing cells throughout your body including those found inside your urinary tract which makes them well suited for treating metastatic types of vesicle cancer that have spread beyond one specific area within your body.