The Urology Center Glossary terms

Bladder Cancer:

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common malignancy in men and its incidence in women is increasing as over the years, increasing numbers of women have become smokers. Bladder cancer occurs as flat (carcinoma in-situ or CIS) or polyp like (papillary) growths on the inside lining of the bladder. The most common type is known as transitional cell carcinoma (TCCA). The tumor begins inside the mucosal lining of the bladder, usually as the result of cigarette smoking, but sometimes as the result of exposure to certain chemicals. The most common sign of bladder tumor is blood stained urine but symptoms may also include urgency and frequency of urination.

Papillary tumors are usually easily removed with cystoscopic surgery but the tumor recurs in up to 70 percent of the cases. For this reason, regular follow-up cystoscopy is required for years after the tumor has been removed. Recurrences of TCCA localized to the bladder are often treated with liquid chemotherapy or immunotherapy agents which are instilled into the bladder with a catheter. This treatment has proven very successful, especially treatment using an agent known as BCG.

BCG is also commonly used to treat CIS type bladder. CIS is a more aggressive type of TCCA and it more often progresses or spreads (metastasizes) to other parts of the body. Once bladder cancer has spread there is little hope for cure. Chemotherapy administered by injection into the bloodstream is sometimes used in advanced cases of TCCA.

Doctors at the Urology Center performed the first ... [orthotopic neobladder operation] in the area in the mid- 1990's and continue to offer this highly specialized service today.

When TCCA is found growing into the muscular layer of the bladder, open surgical removal of the entire bladder is most commonly performed. Of course, the bladder must be replaced or else the urine must continually drain into a bag on the skin. The most natural bladder substitute is known as an orthotopic neobladder (Studer Pouch). Doctors at the Urology Center performed the first such procedures of this type in the area in the mid-1990's and continue to offer this highly specialized service today. This procedure offers patients the opportunity to regain their normal lifestyle, without the need to wear a bag or perform self catheterization, despite having had the bladder completely removed.

Thanks to advancements such as the Studer Pouch Orthotopic Neobladder replacement surgery, even patients who require radical surgery may still function normally without having wear a bag or catheterize themselves. Additionally, due to advancements in chemotherapy/immunotherapy treatments and early diagnostic tools, survival rates for a bladder cancer are very high.