Onkológia 6/2016

Treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Standard therapy of muscle-invasive bladder cancer includes neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical cystectomy with urinary diversion. Adjuvant chemotherapy is offered to patients with pT3/4 and/or N+ disease if no neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been given. Radical cystectomy is associated with a considerable morbidity rates and its corresponding effect on quality of life make the increased trend toward bladder sparing strategies. The bladder preservation treatment modalities ranging from partial cystectomy with pelvic lymphdenectomy to radical transurethral resection with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. There are strong evidence that bladder –sparing treatments lead to acceptable oncological outcomes in selected patients while offering improved quality of life trough preservation of a functioning bladder and sexual function.

Keywords: bladder cancer, radical cystectomy, partial cystectomy, chemotherapy, bladder preservation