Why bladder tumors are prone to recurrence?
The characteristics of bladder tumors prone to recurrence are mainly determined by their histological characteristics. On the one hand, the most common tissue type of bladder tumor is uroepithelial cell carcinoma, which is easy to recur although its malignancy is low. On the other hand, non-myeloablative infiltrative uroepithelial cell carcinoma accounts for 75%-85% and myeloablative infiltrative accounts for 15%-25%. The former mostly requires minimally invasive surgery of transurethral resection of bladder tumor, which is the least traumatic for patients, but about half of the patients will recur within 1 year and 80% of the patients will recur within 5 years after surgery.
Therefore, it is important to perform regular cystoscopy to monitor the recurrence of bladder lesions. Also, developing the correct treatment plan based on the depth of bladder tumor invasion is the key to prevent bladder tumor recurrence. Among them, transurethral resection of bladder tumor is the main treatment for non-muscle invasive uroepithelial bladder cancer; while radical cystectomy with pelvic lymph node dissection is the standard treatment for muscle invasive bladder cancer, which is an effective treatment to improve the survival rate of patients with invasive bladder cancer and avoid local recurrence and distant metastasis.
Second, what do I need to do for the recurrence-prone characteristics of bladder tumor?
To prevent the recurrence of bladder cancer, you need to cooperate with your doctor to do the following follow-up work: 1. Develop a scientific follow-up plan based on the stage of bladder tumor and the treatment method adopted. 2.
2. Quit smoking and avoid exposure to other carcinogens, including aniline dyes.
3.Eat more easily digestible and nutritious food after surgery, and eat less or avoid eating spicy and stimulating food.
4. Drink more water after surgery.
All patients should be followed up by cystoscopy as the main means for early diagnosis of recurrence. Recurrence is not terrible, but what is terrible is the failure to detect recurrence early and make the tumor infiltrate the muscle layer or metastasis to the extent that it needs open bladder removal and seriously affects the quality of life or even life.
The time of cystoscopy depends on the tumor grading and stage. Generally, the first review is received at 3 months after surgery, followed by every 3 months thereafter, every 6 months from the third year, and every year from the fifth year.
Postoperative bladder instillation medication is strictly required by the surgeon to reduce and delay the recurrence of tumor. The recommendation is once a week for 8 weeks, then once a month for 8 months.
For patients with intermediate and high risk non-muscle invasive bladder tumors, regular body cavity bladder thermotherapy is required to further reduce the rate of bladder tumor recurrence. This is once a month for 3 consecutive sessions, then once every 2-3 months for 3 consecutive sessions, and finally once every 6 months for 2 consecutive sessions, for a total of 6-8 sessions.