Markers or grades or levels

Thanks Warren...i felt that needed to be clarified also. I noticed that the 3 urologists at Loma Linda are all office based out of the hospital which means they pretty much see patients 4 days a week and possibly surgery one day a week. One of the things about bladder cancer is its pretty specialized and not every uro has a lot of experience with it. You really want to go to a place that specializes in bladder cancer.....like i said USC/Norris..Keck school of Medicine is one of the top centers in your area for bladder cancer. Understaging happens in over 60% of all bladder cancers. And if the pathologist just messed up here and meant to say that no muscule invasion was present or that no sample was present????????? I have no idea but it sure would make a difference between non invasive and invasive cancer.
Pat

Having just read your last response, another concern. While BCG is appropriate for high grade tumors You said the path report says "Lamina propria invasion present. No muscularis propria identified in the histologic preparation." which means that your cancer cannot be accurately staged. If there is no muscularis, you can't determine if the muscularis has been invaded. Unless I've misunderstood, you need a reTURB for proper staging. Staging is as important to determine treatment as grade.

Hi Buttermilkphil,
My urologist preferred to treat with Mitomycin C. That was 8¾ years ago and I've never had a recurrence. I hope it contineus that way, and wish the same for everyone.

Pat, actually the Urologist said neither CIS nor TA. The diagnosis reads like this: Bladder tumor, TURB: Papillary transitional cell carcinoma, high grade. Lamina propria invasion present. No muscularis propria identified in the histologic preparation. Yes, the Loma Linda University is a major cancer center and I have already been to another doctor. I have questioned both on the BCG treatment and for this type of cancer, both said the BCG is the best way to treat after my initial surgery. I hope this clears it up. I made phone calls after posing the question on this site. Thanks for your input.

forgive my confusion.....so your uro said you had CIS? Or just Ta?
BCG is not effective on low grade tumors......however it is with CIS. I just think you need a better clarification of your pathology. This is pretty important. Are you being seen at a major cancer center or university center that deals with a lot of bladder cancer? You might want to seek a second opinion. We all pretty much do that when there is a diagnosis of cancer.
www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6X10-4SD7F8P-C&_user=10&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=article&_cdi=7228&_sort=v&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=2396&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=21ac3e8a06fe97c6265e456241b55c9b
Sorry to be such a kill-joy....just want you to have all the definitive answers you deserve.
pat

Thanks Warren, that is pretty much what mine said, too. Did you elect to have the BCG treatment? If so, how is that working for you?