Blaassparende behandelingen bij blaaskanker

The standard treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer is surgical removal of the bladder and construction of a neobladder. Recently, important improvements have been made in the potential for bladder-conserving treatment using radiotherapy.

External beam radiotherapy has undergone technological improvements, as a result of which it is possible to radiate the tumour more precisely while decreasing radiation to healthy tissue.

Radiochemotherapy improves local recurrence-free and overall survival compared with radiotherapy alone. The results of this combined treatment are comparable with those of surgery.

Additionally, Dutch radiotherapy departments have collected data in a national database of 1040 selected patients with confined bladder cancer. These patients were treated with external beam radiation, limited surgery and brachytherapy. The 5-year local recurrence-free survival was 75%.

Bladder conserving treatment options for muscle-invasive bladder cancer should be discussed during the multidisciplinary meeting.