Treatment Types

Treatment options are based on your type of cancer, age and overall health. Bladder cancer, if caught early, can often be cured. The main treatments are:

• Radiation therapy, where a radiation oncologist uses high-energy X-rays to destroy the tumor.
• Surgery to remove the cancer in the bladder is usually the first step. If a tumor is determined to be invasive, the next step may be removal of part or all of the bladder by a surgical oncologist or urologist.
• Chemotherapy, where a medical oncologist uses drugs to eliminate the cancer.
• Biologic therapy (also called immunotherapy), where doctors use a drug to stimulate your immune system to fight the cancer.

In the past, complete removal of the bladder was the only way to treat bladder cancer. With advances in radiation therapy and chemotherapy, doctors are sometimes able to treat the cancer while preserving the bladder. This organ preserving approach allows many patients to urinate normally rather than requiring surgical reconstruction for urinary function.