Hi,
With due respect to Zach, I think that there is a difference between "regional" or "local" such as your father has had, spread going to the upper tract, and spread to distant places, nodes, other organs aside from the urinary tract.
Upper tract TCC that has spread from the bladder (or who knows, perhaps even started in the kidney and trickled down) is usually treated with surgery and is very curable if caught at an early stage. I have heard of people getting their ureter or renal pelvis involvement treated by BCG but not if the bladder has muscle invasive cancer and needs to go.
It's very unfortunate about the perforation, but it can happen to the best of doctors. There is a slightly higher risk when this happens of spreading the cancer (single digit, according to one paper written on the subject), but it is not a "given" that spread occurred.
There is plenty of room for hope. TCC is a confusing and complicated disease. Upper tract TCC is rare, so less is known about optimal treatment aside from surgery.
Where is your father going for treatment?
You should definitely discuss this question with your father's doctor, as having it explained properly could instill more hope into what appears to be a hopeless situation.
Take care, and all the best to you and your father.
Dr. Michael O'Donnell from U of Iowa is a renowned expert on upper tract TCC, among other things.
Wendy