In some cases, patients may have part of the bladder removed in an operation called segmental cystectomy. This type of surgery may be done when a patient has a low-grade cancer that has invaded the wall of the bladder but is limited to one area of the organ. Because most of the bladder remains intact, a patient urinates normally after recovering from this surgery. Sometimes, radiation is given before or after surgery or along with anticancer drugs. When bladder cancer has spread to other organs, radiation therapy may be used to relieve symptoms caused by the cancer.
Some patients have both kinds of radiation therapy.
External radiation therapy is usually given on an outpatient basis in a hospital or clinic 5 days a week for 5 to 7 weeks. Treatment may be shorter when external radiation is given along with radiation implants. These are some questions a patient may want to ask the doctor before having radiation therapy. For internal radiation, radiation implants are placed in the bladder either through the urethra or during surgery. The patient stays in the hospital for several days while the implant is in place.