Most bladder cancers are detected due to the presence of either visible or non-visible blood in your urine. Some patients also notice troublesome urinary symptoms, such as a burning sensation or passing urine more frequently than usual.
CONDITIONS
Bladder Cancer
Common Risk Factors
• Smoking
• Occupational exposure to industrial chemicals — including workers in the rubber, leather, textile, dry-cleaning, printing and hairdressing industries
• Previous cyclophosphamide chemotherapy or pelvic radiotherapy
• Long-term indwelling catheter or recurrent UTI
• Family history
• Lynch syndrome
How We Diagnose Bladder Cancer
• Urine tests – microscopy and urine cytology
• Imaging – ultrasound of the bladder, CT urogram, and potentially MRI of the bladder
• Cystoscopy (camera inspection of the bladder)
• Transurethral resection of the bladder tumour (TURBT) for biopsy and treatment
How We Treat Bladder Cancer
For non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer:
• Transurethral resection of the tumour (TURBT)
• Immunotherapy or chemotherapy placed directly into the bladder to minimise side effects while preventing cancer from coming back or spreading
• Surveillance cystoscopy, and possibly urine cytology and imaging
For muscle-invasive bladder cancer:
• Immunotherapy or chemotherapy before surgery (neoadjuvant) in suitable patients
• Robotic cystectomy – surgical removal of the bladder, with bowel used to form an ileal conduit or neo-bladder
• Radiotherapy – can be used to help reduce bleeding in advanced cases, and can also be combined with chemotherapy/ immunotherapy for bladder-sparing treatment
• Ongoing surveillance imaging
