Radiotherapy verses surgery

Hi Robb5747 and welcome to the group although sorry to hear your diagnosis. I was T3 and opted for bladder preservation with chemo and chemoradiotherapy. My oncologist told me here is no evidence to show if one option is better than the other for muscle invasive BC. It was a long process but no surgery involved other than TURBTs. So far clear for 10 years and bladder working normally at present. Happy to answer any questions re this. Best wishes.

Rely thank you for your help it's another thing to speak to my doctor about!

Hi Robb5747,Welcome to the group.I had bladder removal almost 5 yrs ago as had Squamous cell cancer which is rarer and aggressive.The down side to cystectomy is that it is major surgery and not without risk of complications.Sexual function can be affected in both men and women but especially for men unless they have nerve sparing surgery.Recovery can be slow it usually takes a few months to fully recover.You have to adapt to having a neo bladder or Ileal conduit (stoma) The cancer can come back after cystectomy.There is a lot to consider if you do go for surgery but you should have the opportunity to discuss everything fully with your surgeon before hand if you do go down that route.For me the op has been life saving and I have a good quality of life with a stoma and am cancer free.There are several of us here who have had bladder removal and have done well.Best wishes Jane

• Thank you Jane very useful information 

Hi again  Robb5747 . Prior to my RT I had six weeks of chemo (Gem/CIS). This gave me time to decide which way I wanted to go. Best wishes. 

I’m always happy to help if I can.It is a big decision but hopefully you will get some guidance from your team.There is plenty of advice and support here to help you through.Jane

Hello Robb5747, I can only echo rily and winkers60 replies on this but you will find this forum to be helpful during the twists and turns of your treatment regime - once you know what that entails. As I understand it from my experience, radiotherapy can be of huge benefit when the patient is also fit enough to have a follow-up course of chemo. Radiotherapy itself is probably one of the most patient friendly forms of treatment although there are some possible drawbacks with curative levels of dosage e.g. incontinence. I had medium 'palliative' dosage with 2x TURBT follow up as I was not fit enough for chemo or major surgery. I'm still here after 6 years of palliative care and living a pretty normal, independent life, albeit with a long term urethral catheter.  Bladder cancer is one of the more treatable cancers, so try to ride out the inevitable doubts and concerns with some mild optimism. This can be difficult but we will do our best to offer encouragement through our shared experiences here. Best wishes,

Ray (74) 

Thank you Ray for your helpful information  

Hi Robb5747

My cancer is G3 pT1, not muscle invasive, I was offered surgery or BCG Immunotherapy. I opted for the BCG Therapy but have been told/warned by my team that there is a high cance of reoccurrence and to make sure that I stay well enough to tolerate Bladder removal should the BCG fail. I think this is a factor that you also need to be aware of.

Best wishes on whichever treatment pathway you choose to follow.

Love Ade xx

Thank you for your support Ade