Recurrent bladder cancer

Overview

Recurrent bladder cancer is bladder cancer that comes back after treatment.

The recurrence rate of bladder cancer is high. Many people with bladder cancer will have cancer return after treatment. The chances of having a recurrence may vary depending on the original cancer's size and stage.

When bladder cancer comes back, it most often happens in the first two years after treatment. But it also can happen many years later. Bladder cancer can recur in the bladder. In those who had surgery to remove the bladder, the cancer might come back in the area where the bladder used to be. Bladder cancer also can come back in other parts of the body.

When the cancer comes back in the bladder, it often can be removed completely. When the cancer comes back in other areas, a cure may not be possible. In this case, treatment can slow the growth of the cancer and extend your life. Newer treatments and more personalized treatment approaches are helping many people live longer with recurrent bladder cancer.

Causes

It's not clear what causes bladder cancer recurrence. Bladder cancer usually starts as a growth of cells on the inside lining of the bladder. When it comes back in the bladder, it often starts the same way. Scientists don't fully understand why this happens. It's possible that some cancer cells may remain after treatment. The cells may form a new growth in the bladder. Another theory is that the same harmful substances that caused the first cancer also affected other cells in the bladder lining. These other cells could become cancerous later.

Sometimes the bladder cancer comes back in other parts of the body. This could happen if cells break away from the cancer in the bladder. They can spread through the lymphatic system or blood. This kind of recurrence might happen if the cancer cells have already started to spread at the time of the first diagnosis. The cells may have hidden in another part of the body where they weren't detected. Later, these cells begin growing again. When bladder cancer spreads, it's called metastatic bladder cancer.

Prevention

There's no sure way to prevent recurrent bladder cancer, but some treatments and lifestyle changes may help lower the risk that the cancer will come back.

Treatments to lower the risk of recurrence

Sometimes medicines and radiation therapy are used to lower the risk of a bladder cancer recurrence. After a procedure to remove the cancer, your healthcare team might recommend medicines, such as chemotherapy or immunotherapy, or radiation therapy. Talk with your healthcare team about your risk of bladder cancer recurrence and whether these treatments may help lower the risk.

Self-care to lower the risk of recurrence

After bladder cancer treatment, healthcare professionals generally recommend making healthy choices that support overall health. These measures also might help lower the risk of cancer recurrence.

Try to:

• Follow a healthy diet. Choose a diet that's rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Avoid foods with high levels of fat and cholesterol. Some evidence shows cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, collard greens and kale, may lower the risk of recurrence. If you enjoy eating these vegetables, consider adding more of them to your diet.
• Stay active. Aim to exercise most days of the week. If you don't exercise regularly, talk with your care team before you start. Begin with short sessions of an activity you enjoy and build up the amount of exercise over time.
• Strive for a healthy weight. Ask your healthcare professional what weight is healthy for you. If you are at a healthy weight, work to maintain it. If your care team recommends weight loss, aim to lose weight slowly. Start by making healthy choices, such as eating fewer calories, moving more and sitting less.
• Stop smoking. If you smoke, ask your healthcare team about what might help you quit. It can be very hard to quit smoking on your own, so ask your healthcare team for help.

Tests to catch a recurrence early

After treatment for bladder cancer, healthcare professionals often recommend follow-up tests to check for recurrence. If your bladder wasn't removed to treat your cancer, follow-up testing may involve cystoscopy exams to look inside the bladder for signs of cancer. For those who had bladder removal surgery, follow-up testing may involve imaging tests to look at the urinary tract. These tests don't prevent recurrence, but they may help find recurrent cancer when it is small and more likely to be treated successfully.

Treatment

Treatments for recurrent bladder cancer include procedures to remove the cancer, including surgery to remove the bladder, medicines and radiation therapy. Medicines to treat recurrent bladder cancer include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and others.

The treatments that your healthcare team recommends may depend on where the cancer comes back. When cancer comes back in the bladder, treatment usually involves removing the cancer. The type of procedure the healthcare team recommends may depend on whether the cancer has grown into the bladder wall or whether it has a high risk of growing into it.

When cancer comes back in places other than the bladder, treatment often starts with medicines. How well the medicines work might help your care team decide what other treatments to consider.

When making your treatment plan, your care team also thinks about your preferences and your goals for treatment.

Treatment for cancer recurrence in the bladder

If bladder cancer comes back in the bladder, treatment usually starts with a procedure to remove the cancer.

TURBT with intravesical medicines. Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) is a procedure to remove cancer that affects the inner layers of the bladder only. During the procedure, a healthcare professional passes tools through a cystoscope and into the bladder. The tools are used to remove the cancer.

After TURBT, your healthcare team may recommend having medicines put into the bladder. Giving medicines this way is called intravesical therapy. Which medicines you get may depend on your situation and whether you had this treatment in the past.

TURBT with intravesical medicines may be used to treat recurrent bladder cancer that affects only the inner lining of the bladder. This is called non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Bladder removal surgery. Cystectomy is surgery to remove all or part of the bladder. During a partial cystectomy, a surgeon takes out only the area of the bladder that has the cancer.

During a radical cystectomy, a surgeon takes out all of the bladder and the lymph nodes around it. Radical cystectomy typically also includes removal of the prostate gland and seminal vesicles or the uterus, ovaries and part of the vagina. The surgeon then creates a way for urine to leave your body, called a urinary diversion.

Medicines, such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy, may be used before or after surgery. Radiation therapy also may be used.

Bladder removal surgery might be used when the recurrent bladder cancer grows into the wall of the bladder. This is called muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Cystectomy also may be used if the cancer comes back after previous bladder preservation therapy.

Cystectomy is sometimes used to treat non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. It might be used if the cancer has a high risk of becoming invasive or if it comes back soon after treatment.

Bladder preservation. Sometimes, people with bladder cancer that has gone into the bladder's muscle layer don't want to have the bladder removed. In that situation, the healthcare team may use a combination of treatments instead. Called trimodality therapy, this approach uses TURBT, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

First, a surgeon uses TURBT to take out as much of the cancer as possible while keeping bladder function. Then, after the surgery, chemotherapy is given along with radiation therapy. If any cancer remains after trimodality therapy, a radical cystectomy may be needed.

Bladder preservation may be an option for those who prefer not to have bladder removal surgery or for whom surgery isn't recommended.

Treatment for cancer that comes back outside of the bladder

When bladder cancer comes back in places other than the bladder, treatment may start with medicines.

• Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy treats cancer with strong medicines.
• Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy for cancer is a treatment with medicine that helps the body's immune system kill cancer cells. The immune system fights off diseases by attacking germs and other cells that shouldn't be in the body. Cancer cells survive by hiding from the immune system. Immunotherapy helps the immune system cells find and kill the cancer cells.
• Antibody-drug conjugates. Antibody-drug conjugates are medicines that combine targeted therapy with chemotherapy. These medicines use targeted therapy to identify the cancer cells and deliver chemotherapy directly to those cells.
• Targeted therapy. Targeted therapy for cancer is a treatment that uses medicines that attack specific chemicals in the cancer cells. By blocking these chemicals, targeted treatments can cause cancer cells to die.

Which medicines you get may depend on your cancer, your overall health and which treatments you've had in the past. If the medicines work well to control the cancer, other treatments, such as surgery or radiation therapy, may be used to treat the remaining cancer.

Preparing for an appointment

Make an appointment with a healthcare professional if you have any symptoms that worry you. If your healthcare team suspects you might have recurrent bladder cancer, you might be referred to a doctor who specializes in treating diseases and conditions of the urinary tract, called a urologist. Or you may be referred to a doctor who treats cancer, called an oncologist. Here are some things you can do to get ready for your appointment.

What you can do

When you make the appointment, ask if there's anything you need to do before your appointment, such as not eating or drinking for a certain amount of time. Make a list of:

• Your symptoms, including any that don't seem related to the reason for your appointment.
• Key personal information, including major stresses, recent life changes and family medical history.
• All medicines, vitamins and other supplements you take, including the doses.
• Questions to ask your healthcare professional.

Take a family member, friend or another trusted person with you, if possible, to help you remember the information you're given.

For recurrent bladder cancer, basic questions to ask your healthcare professional include:

• Do I have recurrent bladder cancer, or could my symptoms be caused by another condition?
• What tests do I need?
• What are my treatment options?
• Can any treatments cure my bladder cancer?
• What are the possible risks of each treatment?
• Should I see a specialist?
• Do I need follow-up appointments?
• Are there brochures or other printed materials that I can take with me? What websites do you recommend?

Be sure to ask any other questions you may have.

What to expect from your care team

Your healthcare professional may ask:

• When did your symptoms start?
• Are your symptoms always present, or do they come and go?
• How bad are your symptoms?
• What, if anything, makes your symptoms better?
• What, if anything, makes your symptoms worse?