Follow-up and treatment of bladder tumors after electrosurgery

Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (superficial bladder cancer) accounts for 70% of primary bladder tumors and is the most common bladder tumor in our clinical workup. Transurethral resection of bladder tumors (TUR-BT) is an important diagnostic method and the primary treatment for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. TUR-BT should completely remove the tumor until the normal bladder wall muscle is exposed. There are two peak periods for postoperative recurrence, 100-200 days after surgery and 600 days after surgery. Therefore, postoperative treatment and follow-up are particularly important and need to be repeatedly emphasized and explained to patients and families. I hope my following instructions can help you to be familiar with and understand the treatment and follow-up after bladder tumor electrosurgery. Postoperative bladder perfusion therapy can greatly reduce tumor recurrence, and it is recommended that all patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer undergo adjuvant bladder perfusion therapy after surgery. Commonly used drugs for bladder instillation chemotherapy include epirubicin, mitomycin, pirarubicin, adriamycin, and hydroxycamptothecin. Chemotherapeutic drugs are instilled into the bladder through a catheter and retained for 0.5 to 2 hours (note: retention time in the bladder is based on drug instructions). Do not drink a lot of water before instillation to avoid dilution of the drug by urine. The main side effect of bladder perfusion chemotherapy is chemical cystitis, the degree of which is related to the dose and frequency of perfusion. If the chemotherapy response is more pronounced, consider suspending perfusion; most side effects can improve on their own after stopping perfusion. The duration of postoperative instillation is still controversial. I generally recommend that patients be instilled once a week for 4-8 weeks after the first postoperative instillation (immediate instillation), followed by bladder maintenance instillation chemotherapy once a month for 12 months. Whether to continue instillation beyond 12 months depends on the individual patient. All patients should have cystoscopy as the primary follow-up and receive their first review at 3 months postoperatively. Patients with low-risk tumors who have a negative first cystoscopy will have a second follow-up after 9 months and then annually thereafter until 5 years. Patients with high-risk tumors are followed every 3 months for the first 2 years, every 6 months starting in the third year, and annually for life starting in the fifth year.