Although complete removal of the bladder for muscle-invasive bladder cancer has been the “gold standard” for many decades, it’s now accepted that bladder preservation is a safe alternative for carefully selected patients.
The bladder-preserving approach to the treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer is usually a combination of three treatments – radiation therapy, chemotherapy and complete TURBT. The combination of these three treatments is called “trimodal therapy,” which we’ll call TMT.
As you’re probably familiar with the TURBT, which you would have had during diagnosis, we won’t explain this treatment here. In a moment, we’ll talk a bit more about radiation and chemotherapy, but let’s start by discussing whether you may qualify for TMT or a partial removal of the bladder.