Managing a Case of Urinary Bladder Cancer

Bladder is a part of your urinary system, situated at the lower part of your abdominal region. It is hollow in nature that stores urine before it is passed out of your system. Bladder cancer occurs when cancerous cells start growing and developing on the internal lining of your bladder. These cells grow at a rapid rate generating tumors inside your bladder.

As the cancer cells grow rapidly in the bladder, they can also progress to other parts of the urinary system. Every cancer disease is divided into three stages depending on their growth and progression. Bladder cancer in its third or last stage is very harmful and life threatening. Bladder cancer can be treated well if it is diagnosed at its early stage.

There are many diagnostic tests available for both males and females that can diagnose you for cancer of urinary bladder. Also, these tests indicate many other factors like stage and extent to which cancer has spread in your body. Results depict the tumor present inside your bladder to be either of low grade or high grade tumorous condition. It can show how fast can your cancer disease grow.

Low grade bladder cancer has a slow rate of growth and development and hence can be treated normally. However, a high grade bladder cancer requires extra care and advanced level of treatment as they grow on a rapid rate and spread on a faster. Bladder cancer has common treatment methodologies. Let us take a look at the treatment methods that can be helpful for patients to manage bladder cancer.

Managing Bladder Cancer

Cancer treatment is divided into two parts. Therapy is the mandatory part that can control the symptoms of cancer and also help you get rid of the malignant tumor bodies in your system. Other part involves surgical removal of your tumors and cancer cells.

Surgery

Surgery is an efficient way to get rid of cancerous tissue. Whenever your doctor is suspicious of tumorous condition inside your bladder, he can conduct a cystoscopy test to collect tissue samples from the inside of your bladder. Cystoscopy is a minimally invasive diagnostic test to look inside your bladder and collect tissue samples from the internal line of your bladder. These tissue samples are tested under a microscope to learn whether the tumor is malignant or benign in nature. If the tumor tissues are malignant, stage and grade of cancer can also be learnt along.

Surgery procedures for bladder cancer involves radical cystectomy. This is a minimal access operative procedures. This surgery procedure is used to discard the affected tissue bodies or organ, as a whole, that is affected by cancer. Cancerous tissue cells can be discarded using surgical tools and later reconstructed with healthy tissues. Re-constructive surgery can be followed after cystectomy to implant healthy tissues on the lining of your bladder.

Doctors can also remove the neighboring organs if they are affected with cancer. Recovery from surgery depends on surgical factors like extent of surgery, type of surgery and many other. Surgery can be followed along with other cancer therapy procedures as well.

If you are undergoing a bladder cancer surgery through traditional approach, then cost of the surgery may vary as compared to the minimally invasive cystectomy surgery. Cost of cystoscopy test also varies according to the feasible approach used based on your cancer condition.

Therapy

There are many types of therapeutic procedures that can control cancerous growth in your system. Many therapy procedure can kill cancer cells and increase the rate of curing it. Let us study bout each one of them.

Chemotherapy

A systemic chemotherapy is performed to kill cancer cells growing and progressing in your system. In a systemic chemotherapy process, anti cancer drugs are given to patients that attack only cancer cells in your system. These drugs are either infused in your system or provided orally with the purpose of running it through your bloodstream so that each reaches the entire system of your body. This therapy procedure can reduce cancer in your system and increase the chances of cure.

For an advanced level of bladder cancer, chemotherapy is used only as a primary treatment method. Here, chemotherapy drugs are utilized to control cancer cells from progressing. Symptoms and damage can only be controlled and not cured in an advanced bladder cancer stage.

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy or radiation therapy is another therapeutic approach used as a primary treatment option for any type of cancer. The procedure for radiotherapy involves introducing ionizing radiation at the site of cancer in order to attack cancerous cells. High intensity energy waves are subjected at the site where cancer tumors are present. These radiation beams shrink larger cancer tumors and kills the smaller ones.

Radiotherapy are classified into two sub types – External beam radiotherapy and internal radiotherapy. If the radiation waves are introduced by an external source into your body, the process is termed as external beam radiotherapy. Here, radiation can use energy from protons, gamma rays or electrons. Some external beam radiation therapy use a combination of these energy waves. For internal radiotherapy, a radioactive substance is injected in your body that resides at the site of your malignant tumor or tissue. From here, the radioactive material emits radiation beams, targeting the cancer cells to kill them.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is one of the most essential treatment measure for cancer patients. As the name suggests, immunotherapy is a biological therapeutic approach that improves the functioning of your immune system. A substance is used from a living organism or chemically build up in laboratories for immunotherapy. This substance is infused into your system so that it helps to restore your immunity to fight against cancer.

Many oncology centers near you provide therapeutic procedures for treating bladder cancer. You can go through a list of the therapy centers for cancer near you and compare to check the suitable one for you according to your cancerous condition. You can take a look at the top urology hospitals in India that provide finest quality of urology tests as well as bladder cancer surgery and therapy provisions.

The above article gives you a gist of cancer of urinary bladder. Learn about the different medical methods used to manage bladder cancer and its symptoms. Your oncologist can also suggest you the suitable oncology center where you can undergo all necessary treatments and therapies to deal with bladder cancer.