Understanding Bladder Cancer

How is bladder Cancer Treated?

Last updated and reviewed on May 23, 2026.

Treatment for bladder cancer depends on the stage and grade of the cancer, your age, and your overall health. There are several main types of treatment, and they are often used in combination. Your care team will likely include a urologist (a doctor who specializes in urinary conditions), a medical oncologist (who oversees cancer medicines), and a radiation oncologist (who specializes in radiation therapy).

• Surgery: Surgery is a major part of treatment for most bladder cancers. For non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, the most common surgery is called transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT). In this procedure, a cystoscope is inserted into the bladder through the urethra, and the tumor is cut out or burned away using electric current. No cuts are made in the skin. For muscle-invasive bladder cancer that has not yet spread, the standard surgery is radical cystectomy, removal of the entire bladder, along with nearby tissues and lymph nodes. For men, this often includes the prostate. For women, it may include the uterus and part of the vagina. A new way for urine to leave the body (called a urinary diversion) is created during this surgery.

• Intravesical Therapy: For early-stage bladder cancer, medicines can be placed directly into the bladder through a catheter (a thin tube). The most common intravesical therapy is BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin), a weakened form of bacteria that stimulates the immune system to attack remaining cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs can also be given this way.

• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy uses powerful drugs to kill cancer cells throughout the body. It can be given before surgery (neoadjuvant chemotherapy) to shrink the tumor, after surgery (adjuvant chemotherapy) to kill any remaining cancer cells, or as the main treatment for advanced bladder cancer. Common chemotherapy drugs used for bladder cancer include cisplatin and gemcitabine.

• Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that uses medicines to help your own immune system recognize and destroy cancer cells. BCG (given into the bladder) is a form of immunotherapy used for early-stage cancer. For advanced bladder cancer, newer immunotherapy medicines called checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab, are now an important part of treatment. The combination of pembrolizumab and enfortumab vedotin has recently become a new standard of care for metastatic bladder cancer.

• Radiation Therapy: Radiation uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. It is sometimes used along with chemotherapy as an alternative to bladder removal surgery,  a strategy called trimodality therapy, which allows some patients to keep their bladder. It is also used for palliative treatment to relieve symptoms in advanced cancer.

• Targeted Therapy: Targeted therapies are medicines that attack specific features of cancer cells. For example, drugs that target the FGFR3 gene mutation (like erdafitinib) have been approved for use in bladder cancer patients whose tumors have this specific mutation.

For some patients, a combination of treatments is used at the same time. For example, chemotherapy and immunotherapy are often given together for advanced bladder cancer. Radiation and chemotherapy may be used together for cancers that cannot be surgically removed. Doctors also sometimes give treatments before surgery, called neoadjuvant therapy, to shrink the tumor first and make it easier to remove. The order and combination of treatments depends on your specific cancer, and your care team will explain why they are recommending the approach they have chosen for you.

Supportive care during treatment

When people hear the term "supportive care," they sometimes think it only applies to patients who are very sick or near the end of life. That is a common misunderstanding. Supportive care, also called palliative care, is actually for anyone going through a serious illness, at any stage, and at any point during treatment. Its goal is to help you feel as well as possible while you are fighting cancer. Palliative care is defined as medical care provided by an interdisciplinary team focused on the relief of suffering and support for the best possible quality of life for patients facing serious life-threatening illness and their families, aiming to identify and address the physical, psychological, spiritual, and practical burdens of illness.

The broad term "supportive care" for patients with advanced bladder cancer can include a variety of medical, psychological, and alternative therapies, all of which can help ease symptoms. This includes things like medications to control pain, nausea, or shortness of breath; counseling to help with anxiety and depression; nutrition support; and physical therapy to help keep your strength up. Interventions such as guided imagery, breathing techniques, and educational tools can have a positive impact on common psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression, and the involvement of social and spiritual support for patients and families can certainly impact physical symptoms as well as overall quality of life.

Research has shown that starting supportive care early makes a real difference. A landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients with advanced bladder cancer who received early palliative care alongside their regular cancer treatment had better quality of life and mood compared to those who only received standard oncology care1. Rates of depression also differed significantly between the groups, with approximately half as many patients in the palliative care group reporting clinically significant depressive symptoms. This study helped change the way the medical community thinks about palliative care, shifting the view from a last resort to an essential part of treatment from the very beginning.

Palliative care is rapidly becoming an important part of cancer care, and patients with advanced bladder cancer clearly experience benefits in quality of life and potentially even in overall survival when palliative care is incorporated early on after diagnosis. The palliative care team works alongside your oncology team, not instead of them. The team should include the patient's treating physician, nurses, as well as supportive care experts such as social workers, psychologists, spiritual counselors, pulmonary rehabilitation specialists, case managers, pain specialists, and dietitians. This group of people works together to make sure all of your needs are being met, not just your medical ones.

It is important to know that supportive care is not giving up. The term palliative care has often been misunderstood as synonymous with hospice care, but while hospice care is specifically provided to patients who are no longer receiving disease-modifying treatment, palliative care is provided to patients with serious illness regardless of whether their treatment intent is curative or supportive. You can receive supportive care while also receiving chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery, or any other active treatment. Ask your care team about what supportive care services are available to you, because you deserve to feel as comfortable and supported as possible throughout your entire treatment journey.

Follow-up care after treatment ends

When your main cancer treatment ends, you move into a phase called survivorship. This does not mean your doctors say goodbye; instead, you begin follow-up care to make sure you stay healthy. The primary goal of these checkups is to watch for any signs of the cancer returning and to help you manage any long-term side effects from your treatment.

Follow-up care after bladder cancer treatment is extremely important. Bladder cancer has one of the highest recurrence rates of any cancer, meaning it often comes back after treatment, sometimes in the same place and sometimes elsewhere in the urinary tract. Regular follow-up visits allow your doctor to catch any recurrence early, when it is most treatable.

• Your doctor will give you a survivorship care plan, which is like a map for your future health. These regular checkups help catch any changes early when they are easiest to handle.

• After treatment for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, most patients have a cystoscopy (a look inside the bladder) every three months for the first two years, then every six months, and eventually once a year if no recurrence is detected. Urine tests are typically done at these visits as well.

• After radical cystectomy (bladder removal), follow-up visits include physical exams, blood tests, imaging scans, and urine tests on a regular schedule. These visits also monitor the function of your urinary diversion and check for long-term side effects of surgery and chemotherapy.

• Follow-up care also includes managing any long-term side effects from treatment,  such as changes in urinary function, sexual health concerns, or the physical and emotional adjustment to living with a urinary diversion. Your team will help you manage these challenges and refer you to specialists (like urologists, physical therapists, or sexual health counselors) as needed. Survivorship care plans are written documents that summarize your cancer treatment and outline the plan for ongoing monitoring. Ask your care team for one if you have not already received it.

It is very important to keep your own copies of your medical records and treatment summaries. You can do this using HealthTree and electronically connecting all your medical records to your phone. Since you might see different doctors in the future, having a record of exactly what treatments you received helps them give you the best care. Follow-up care is all about staying proactive and giving you the peace of mind to move forward with your life after cancer.