Overview of Metastatic Bladder Cancer
Rohit Jain, MD, MPH provides an overview of metastatic bladder cancer, discussing differences in urothelial carcinoma based on location, patient presentations, diagnosis, and staging.
Transcript:
Rohit Jain, MD, MPH: Welcome to this cancer network presentation Around the Practice: The Bladder Cancer Patient Journey. I'm your host, Dr Rohit Jain. I'm a GU medical oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center. Joining me today are Anand Shah, pharmacist at Moffitt Cancer Center. Anand, can you introduce yourself?
Anand Shah, PharmD, BCOP: Thank you, Dr Jain. So, my name is Anand Shah. I'm a clinical pharmacist lead at Moffitt Cancer Center, and I'm also the residency program director for our PGY2 oncology program. I cover most cancer subtypes at Moffitt Cancer Center on the solid tumor side. And I'm really happy to join you on this forum, in this panel discussion. So, thank you for having me.
Rohit Jain, MD, MPH: Thank you so much. We also have Mr Jeffrey Ehas. Jeffrey, could you introduce yourself?
Jeffrey Ehas: Hi. My name is Jeffrey Ehas. I'm a cancer patient. I have bladder cancer, and I'm doing this to, I can hope I can, help somebody in any way through their journey with cancer. So, I'm proud to do this.
Rohit Jain, MD, MPH: Thank you so much for your time today. And we also have Mrs. Ehas. Could you please introduce yourself?
Lauren Ehas: Hi. I'm Lauren Ehas. I'm Jeffrey's wife. We've been going to Moffitt for about 3.5 years now. So, we just wanted to share our experience with you all.
Rohit Jain, MD, MPH: Thank you so much for your time today. So today we are going to discuss evolving treatment practices in bladder cancer. We will assess the latest data, evaluate the impact on treatment decisions, and share patient and caregiver perspectives. So, let's begin. Urothelial cancers in general, encompass cancer [that] arise from…renal calyces, renal pelvis, ureter, bladder, and urethra as these surfaces all have the same embryologic origin. The most common site of origin for urothelial cancer is urinary bladder. Worldwide, bladder cancer results in over 160,000 deaths and is the fourth most common cancer in the United States, which accounts for approximately 80,000 new cases and 17,000 deaths each year. There's a male predominance for urothelial cancer of the bladder. Most bladder cancers are superficial or nonmuscle invasive at diagnosis, and approximately 25% of the cases present with invasion of the muscularis propria.
In general, the symptoms … can be difficulty passing urine, blood in urine, sometimes pain in the back or in the abdomen or pelvis. Or, on the lab abnormalities, there could be kidney dysfunction. So, if there [are] any symptoms such as discolored urine or there's a concern that there may be blood in urine, then that should be evaluated and the patient should get it checked. When we do see the patients, the first step is to perform cystoscopy, which is basically inserting a small narrow tube called cystoscope through your urethra. The cystoscope has a lens that allows the doctor to see inside of your urethra and bladder and to examine these structures for signs of disease. The cystoscopy can be done in the doctor's office or in the hospital. During cystoscopy, the doctor may pass a special tool through the scope into the bladder to collect the cell sample called biopsy for testing. And this procedure is sometimes called the transurethral resection of the bladder tumor, or TURBT. This can also be used to treat bladder cancer. Along with this procedure, we also check the urine for cytology or cancer cells in the urine. Along with this, we also do imaging such as a CT urogram or a CAT scan or a retrograde pyelogram, which allows the physician to examine structures of the urinary tract.
Transcript is AI-generated and edited for clarity and readability.
