Bladder cancer treatment with intravesical chemotherapy

Chemotherapy remains among the most effective treatment methods for cancer. Bladder tumors aren’t an exception and show up to 85% response rate and high treatment success rate, depending on the grade and stage of cancer. Yet, often patients can not use traditional forms of chemotherapy (e. g. , pills, intravenous injections) due to adverse effects. Or doctors might need to achieve only local effects and simultaneously try to avoid side effects resulting from traditional forms of chemotherapy. In these cases, medical practitioners might offer intravesicular chemotherapy. It shows moderate to modest results for advanced-stage bladder cancer, especially with numerous distant metastases. But, it is very effective for local bladder cancer, help to decrease the size of the primary tumor, and makes it possible for surgeons to perform bladder tumor removal surgery. Intravesicular chemotherapy might become a part of combined treatment and is sometimes used as a primary therapy method. Currently, gemcitabine and mitomycin are the two main medications for intravesicular chemotherapy. The patient gets an injection of solution with medications into the urinary bladder, most often via the urethral catheter (a hollow elastic tube inserted into the bladder via the urethra). For better effects, patients must keep medications inside the bladder for at least 2 hours. So, most often, patients stay in the hospital for a few hours after the injection. The number of required courses and treatment sessions per course varies for each patient.