Adjuvant treatment for bladder cancer

  1.Why must we do chemotherapy drug bladder perfusion after bladder tumor electrosurgery?  A: After transurethral bladder tumor electrosurgery for superficial bladder tumor, 10%~67% of patients will recur within 12 months, and 24%~84% of patients will recur within 5 years after surgery, which may be related to new tumor, tumor cell implantation or incomplete resection of primary tumor. Postoperative bladder perfusion therapy can greatly reduce recurrence due to tumor cell dissemination. Although transurethral bladder tumor electrosurgery theoretically allows complete resection of non-muscle-infiltrating bladder cancer, there is still a high probability of recurrence in clinical management and some cases progress to muscle-infiltrating bladder cancer. Transurethral bladder tumor electrosurgery alone cannot solve the problem of high postoperative recurrence and progression, so it is recommended that all patients with superficial bladder cancer should be treated with chemotherapeutic drug bladder perfusion after surgery.  2.When do bladder cancer patients need radiotherapy and chemotherapy?  A: Patients with muscle layer invasive bladder cancer who have metastases at the time of diagnosis; patients with muscle layer invasive bladder cancer who have undergone radical cystectomy with pathology suggesting lymph node metastases; patients with partial bladder resection with postoperative pathology suggesting lymph node metastases; the above patients need to receive preoperative or postoperative systemic chemotherapy with drugs.  In some cases, patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer may choose bladder radiation therapy or chemotherapy + radiation therapy if they are unwilling to undergo radical cystectomy in order to preserve the bladder, or if the patient’s systemic condition cannot tolerate radical cystectomy, or if the tumor cannot be completely removed by radical surgery or if the tumor cannot be removed.