-
Another Question
Hi Everyone-
So I have been on a few message boards and I am getting a sea of messages indicating that a Radical Cystectomy with Chemo performed for non-invasive high grade tumor…. Isn’t that a little extreme? My dad’s doctor is saying another biopsy with course of treatment of BCG- and there is a 90 percent effectiveness of treatment. If it comes back the efficacy of BCG then diminishes and then Radical Cystectomy is recommended.
I guess everyone has a different threshold but my father’s urologist told us that a RC at this point would be an extreme measure but left it to us to decide what to do. His recommendation is the second TURB, with BCG and monitoring.
My dad’s second opinion is coming up next week but his urologist and oncologist both said the same thing.
Am I missing something?
Thank you all!!!
-
6 Replies
-
Well my dad went in for his second TURBT; doctor said it looked clear and Sara Anne- you were right- Dr. Confirmed it was an infection. Dr. Said he could not say one way or another if there is muscle invasion but from what he could tell from the bladder using blue light cystoscopy- he could not see any tumor reoccurrence. He injected mitomycin and now time for us to sit tight to get results.
Wondering what the statistics are if there was no evidence of cancer in lamina propria to muscle invasive within a month?
-
Hi Sara Anne,
I disagree with you, however I think it depends on the urologist as I have T1HG and I was told by my urologist that he recommends RC rather then the BCG treatment and I elected to go with the BCG treatment even though my urologist is dead set against it and he gives it less then 40% chance of it working and he said even if it does the tumor has a 70% chance of coming back and then if I decide to do the RC (which I will not do, for personel reasons) he said that it will not be as high of a survival rate then if I did it before the BCG treatment.
The only thing I can say at this point is that everyone cancer is unique to them and in my case he says my cancer is very nasty and very aggressive. It all depends on the person particular case.
tgrocky
-
My 2 cents worth of addition. If possible, ALWAYS do the least invasive test/surgery with any medical procedure. Why subject oneself to something that has increasing risk? The second TURB is a good start to be sure margins are clear then you simply need to give BCG a chance.
DX 5/6/2008 TAG3 papillary tumor .5 CM in size. 2 TURBS followed by 6 instillations of BCG weekly with a second round of 6 after a 6 week wait.
It is much more likely that any urinary blood now is from the TURB or an infection. The urologist DID cut out pieces of the bladder to send to the pathologist as well as to remove any visible tumor so it is very possible that there are scabs present. Also, anytime anything invasive such as surgical instruments enter a sterile area such as the bladder it is very possible that bacteria can be introduced. These are all questions, however, that your father should discuss with his urologist himself if he is worried. We are not doctors here.
Sara Anne
Diagnosis 2-08 Small papillary TCC; CIS
BCG; BCG maintenance
Vice-President, American Bladder Cancer Society
Forum Moderator
Thank you Sara Anne. Just another question- my dad is a month out from his TURB and he had some pain urinating and went to Dr and they said there was a trace of blood in his urine and gave him antibiotics for the infection. Could this be from a reoccurrence of another tumor? I can’t imagine a tumor coming back so quickly but wanted to ask and also ask if anyone experienced a urinary tract infection few weeks after TURB.
I can’t imagine why anyone with non-invasive bladder cancer would even consider a radical cystectomy. I have never heard of such a thing . Of course if BCG fails and the cancer comes back multiple times that would be the time to consider such a drastic option I was diagnosed with high-grade bladder cancer and did both BCG induction and a maintenance series and I’ve been cancer free for 11 years.
A radical cystectomy is a very difficult surgery with a long recovery time. Again why anyone would even consider it unless it was absolutely necessary I can’t imagine
Sara Anne
Diagnosis 2-08 Small papillary TCC; CIS
BCG; BCG maintenance
Vice-President, American Bladder Cancer Society
Forum ModeratorSign In to reply.