Bladder Cancer Treatment

The qualifying adjectives most frequently used in describing surgery for bladder malignancies refer to the approach to the surgical area rather than the extent of surgical ablation. Some of these are: retropubic, suprapubic, perineal, abdominal, abdomino-perineal, periabdominal, and vaginal. The choice of technique depends upon the sex of the patient, and the size and location of the tumor within the bladder.

The degree of spread, the histological type of the tumor and the site of the primary are major considerations in determining therapy. The surgical extent at first treatment is conservative in the early cases in order to preserve a useful bladder with a more or less normal capacity.