You don’t have to bear the burden of a bladder cancer diagnosis alone. Our team of bladder cancer experts is by your side with empathy and expertise. They have the highest level of knowledge and skill in the procedures and therapies that improve outcomes.
Learn about:
Bladder Cancer Treatment: Why Choose the Abramson Cancer Center?
Bladder cancer treatment can be complex — what’s most effective varies from person to person. That’s why we have a standard of care that considers every option.
Each of our doctors specializes in a specific cancer treatment area, such as radiation oncology, and subspecializes in bladder cancer. This level of expertise is uncommon and allows them to create treatment plans specific to your unique needs and diagnosis.
Our bladder cancer program also features:
- Highly trained experts: Our surgical skill leads to better results. Our bladder cancer specialists have all completed the highest level of training (fellowship) in urologic oncology (cancer specialty that treats bladder cancer) or minimally invasive procedures with an emphasis on urologic oncology. They are skilled in reconstructive procedures to create functional new bladders after cystectomy (bladder removal). And for males who need urethral reconstruction (procedure to fix the tube that carries urine out of the body), our fellowship-trained reconstructionist performs the procedure.
- Bladder cancer clinical trials: When eligible, our patients can join one of our many bladder cancer clinical trials. These trials include those aimed at preserving the bladder and new radiation techniques. Our radiation oncologists are researching how radiation treatment affects quality of life and new ways to know if treatment is working. These studies give patients access to new and more treatment options when standard therapies don’t work.
- Experience: Each year, we treat a large number of patients in our bladder cancer program. Studies show that high-volume programs have more experience and expertise — and better patient outcomes. Our experience also means our bladder cancer specialists can handle the hardest-to-treat cancers.
- 24/7 care for treatment side effects: While lifesaving, cancer treatments can sometimes cause serious side effects. To help you get through cancer treatment safely, we provide urgent care and same-day appointments in our Oncology Evaluation Center (OEC). Simply call your Abramson Cancer Center doctor’s office during regular business hours to see if you are eligible for an evaluation in the OEC. You can also send our triage nurses a message via MyChart by myPennMedicine. Read more about managing cancer treatment side effects.
- Support: Our complete care includes services to support your physical, financial and emotional needs. You have access to financial advocates, dietitians, integrative oncology services, home care through Penn Medicine At Home, cancer support groups and more. Find out more about our bladder cancer support services.
Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer Treatment
The bladder is a hollow organ in your lower abdomen (stomach) that stores and empties urine. Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (superficial) is in the bladder’s inner lining. It has not yet spread into the surrounding muscle.
Treatments include:
Transurethral Resection of Bladder Tumor (TURBT)
Surgeons can often remove non-muscle invasive cancers using the TURBT procedure. During it, your doctor surgically removes the tumor from your bladder. Doctors use TURBTs to both diagnose and treat bladder cancer.
Systemic and Intravesical Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy trains your immune system to kill cancer cells more effectively. Bacillis Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is a common intravesical immunotherapy for bladder cancer. BCG treatment for bladder cancer involves using BCG, a kind of bacteria, to help the immune system target and kill bladder cancer cells.
After BCG treatment, you should have regular cystoscopies. Cystoscopy uses a long, thin tube called a cystoscope to check for cancer cells inside the bladder.
The Abramson Cancer Center is among the few centers in the Philadelphia area using blue light cystoscopy. Blue light cystoscopy makes cancer cells light up during surgery for easier removal.
If bladder cancer doesn’t respond to BCG treatment, you may benefit from systemic immunotherapy with the drug pembrolizumab. You receive this treatment intravenously (through a vein).
Intravesical Chemotherapy
Doctors give intravesical chemotherapy via a long, thin tube (catheter) inserted into the bladder. The most common chemotherapy drug doctors use for intravesical chemo is mitomycin C.
Side effects are minimal compared to other chemotherapies. This is because mitomycin C stays in the bladder and does not affect your entire body.
Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer Treatment
Connective tissue surrounds the bladder’s inner lining. The next layer is muscle and then fat. Muscle invasive bladder cancer has spread through the bladder’s lining into the surrounding muscle or beyond.
Muscle invasive cancers tend to be more aggressive. That’s why our medical and radiation oncologists and bladder cancer specialists work together to create comprehensive treatment plans. These plans consider every aspect of your life and health, including your quality of life and treatment goals.
Treatments for muscle invasive bladder cancer may include:
Cystectomy (Bladder Removal)
Procedures to remove part or all of the bladder and nearby affected organs include:
- Partial cystectomy (removes part of the bladder)
- Radical cystectomy (removes the entire bladder, some lymph nodes and part of the urethra, the tube where urine exits your body)
If you undergo a radical cystectomy, we offer many ways to preserve your ability to urinate (urinary diversion). Learn more about bladder removal surgery and our urinary diversion options.
Chemotherapy for Bladder Cancer
Chemo for muscle invasive cancer is systemic. You either receive chemo as a pill or intravenously (injected into a vein or muscle). It enters the bloodstream and kills cancer cells that have spread to other areas of your body.
You may receive chemotherapy before (neoadjuvant) or after (adjuvant) bladder cancer surgery. Chemotherapy can:
- Shrink the tumor to make it easier to remove
- Lower the risk of the cancer returning (recurrence)
Studies show that neoadjuvant chemotherapy increases overall survival and improves outcomes. That’s why bladder cancer experts established it as a first-line therapy (part of the standard of care) in 2019. Our medical oncologists are highly experienced in this treatment. Their knowledge and skill improve our patients’ results.
Radiation for Bladder Cancer
We give you access to both tried-and-true and innovative radiation therapies. Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. You may receive radiation therapy:
- To shrink the cancer
- To treat cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes
- As chemoradiation (combined radiation and chemotherapy so the chemo makes the cancer more vulnerable to the radiation)
- Together with TURBT and chemo to preserve the bladder
Once we decide on the best treatment plan, we use our PET/CT simulator to get images of you in the treatment position. This imaging machine combines the information from PET and CT scans to create more accurate images of your anatomy.
With these images, our radiation oncologists can more precisely plan your radiation therapy. Your treatments are then safer and more effective.
Immunotherapy for Bladder Cancer
Immunotherapy may be an option to treat later-stage bladder cancers. It may also help cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic bladder cancer).
At Penn Medicine, our researchers have been at the forefront of developing new immunotherapies. These treatments include some now FDA-approved for use in bladder cancer. We use these insights make better treatment decisions for our patients.
Make an Appointment
Please call 800-789-7366 or request a callback.