Items Tagged With Bladder Cancer Treatment

If you are receiving radiation therapy or chemotherapy to treat any stage of bladder cancer, you can use home treatment to help manage the side effects that may be caused by these treatments. Home treatment may be all that is needed to manage the common problems listed below. If your health professional has given you instructions or medications to treat these symptoms, be sure to follow them. In general, healthy habits such as eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep and exercise can help control your symptoms.

• Home treatment for nausea or vomiting includes watching for and treating early signs of dehydration, such as a dry mouth, sticky saliva, and reduced urine output with dark yellow urine. Older adults can quickly become dehydrated from vomiting. For more information on how to deal with these side effects, see:

  Controlling nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy.

• Home treatment for diarrhea includes resting your stomach and being alert for signs of dehydration. Check with your health professional before using any nonprescription medications for your diarrhea. Be sure to drink enough fluids.
• Home treatment for constipation includes ensuring that you drink enough fluids and eat fruits, vegetables, and fiber in your diet each day. Do not use a laxative without consulting your health professional.

Other issues that may arise include:

• Sleep problems. If you have trouble sleeping, some tips for managing sleep problems may be helpful, such as having a regular bedtime, getting some exercise during the day, and avoiding naps.
• Fatigue. If you lack energy and become weak easily, try measures to help your fatigue, which include getting extra rest, eating a balanced diet, and reducing your stress.
• Hair loss. Hair loss may be unavoidable, but you can decrease irritation of your scalp by using mild shampoos and avoiding damaging hair products.
• Body image and sexuality problems. Sexual problems can be caused by physical or psychological factors related to the cancer or its treatment. You may experience less sexual pleasure or lose your desire to be sexually intimate.
  • Women who have their bladder removed (radical cystectomy) will also have their ovaries and uterus removed. They cannot become pregnant and may experience menopause soon after having the cystectomy.
  • Men who have their prostate glands and seminal vesicles removed may have erection problems and will no longer produce semen.

Many people with bladder cancer face emotional issues as a result of their disease or its treatment.

• It is stressful to find out that you have cancer and to undergo treatment. Managing stress may include expressing your feelings to others. Learning relaxation techniques may also be helpful. Relaxation techniques, such as meditation, and support groups may be helpful.
• Your feelings about your body may change following treatment for cancer. Managing body image issues may involve talking openly about your concerns with your partner, and discussing your feelings with your health professional. Your health professional may also be able to refer you to organizations that can offer additional support and information.

Radiation treatment for bladder cancer uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. External beam radiation comes from a machine outside the body. The machine aims radiation at the area where the cancer cells are found.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is being studied as a treatment for bladder cancer. PDT uses laser light and a special light-activated substance (Photofrin) to kill cancer cells. Results of early studies with photosensitizers show that PDT may be effective in treating recurrent superficial bladder cancer.^{8, 14} Until all the drug is out of the body, the skin can get a sort of sunburn after even short exposures to light. This can last several weeks.¹⁵

Other Treatment Choices

Radiation treatment uses high-dose X-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. It may be used before or after surgery. Radiation therapy also may be used if a person with bladder cancer cannot have surgery. Radiation therapy also may be used as palliative care to shrink tumors or relieve pain.

What To Think About

Some people with bladder cancer may be interested in participating in research studies called clinical trials. Clinical trials are designed to find better ways to treat cancer patients and are based on the most up-to-date information. People who do not want standard treatments or who are not cured using standard treatments may want to participate in clinical trials. These are ongoing in most parts of the United States and in some other countries for people with all stages of bladder cancer.

The combination of conventional medical treatment and complementary medicine is an approach that is sometimes termed integrative medicine, in which conventional and complementary therapies work together for the best outcome.

Bladder Cancer  Bladder Cancer Treatment 

The choice of treatment and the long-term outcome (prognosis) for people who have bladder cancer depends on the stage and grade of cancer. Your health professional also considers your age, overall health, and quality of life when developing your treatment plan.

Bladder cancer is usually curable if it is diagnosed while the cancer is still contained in the bladder, and up to 80% of bladder cancers are diagnosed at this early stage.³

Treatment choices for bladder cancer may include:

• Surgery to remove the cancer. Surgery, either alone or in combination with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or biological therapy, is used more than 90% of the time to treat bladder cancer.¹
• Chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells using medications. Chemotherapy may be given before or after surgery.
• Radiation therapy to destroy cancer cells using high-dose X-rays or other high-energy rays. Radiation therapy may also be given before or after surgery and may be given at the same time as chemotherapy.
• Biological therapy to boost your body's immune system to fight cancer cells. This therapy is commonly used to prevent the return (recurrence) of bladder cancer.

Initial treatment

Surgery is used to treat most stages of bladder cancer.

• Small bladder tumors that remain near the surface (superficial) may be burned with a low-voltage electrified probe (electrocautery) during a cytoscopy.
• Transurethral resection (TUR) is used to remove large superficial bladder tumors or tumors that penetrate more deeply into the tissue but have not spread outside the bladder.
• Surgical removal of the bladder (cystectomy) is usually done for the most advanced stages of cancer that is confined to the bladder. Cystectomy may also be done for high-grade bladder cancers or when there are multiple tumors in the bladder. Surgery may not be recommended for an older adult who has a long-term medical condition.

Chemotherapy uses medications to destroy cancer cells. For superficial bladder cancer, the medications may be delivered directly into the bladder using a catheter (intravesically). For cancer that has deeply invaded the bladder or spread to lymph nodes or other organs, chemotherapy may be given orally or intravenously (IV). Side effects may differ, depending on the medications used and your age and overall health. Recent studies show that chemotherapy given before cystectomy (neoadjuvant) may increase the effectiveness of treatment for many people.^{10, 11} More studies are being done.

Radiation therapy, which uses high-dose X-rays or other high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells, is one of the standard treatments for certain types of bladder cancer. Radiation therapy also is used as palliative care to relieve symptoms and preserve kidney function. Home treatment can help manage some of the side effects of radiation therapy.

Biological therapy uses medications to boost or restore your body's immune system. Biological therapy is most often used for superficial bladder cancer. It may be used after a transurethral resection (TUR) to prevent cancer recurrence.