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Bladder Cancer

The bladder is an organ that stores urine and is located inside the lower part of the abdomen. Bladder cancer is a malignant growth in cells that comprise the lining of the bladder. Over 67,000 new cases of bladder cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. yearly.1

Treatment Options
Treatment options depend on the stage of bladder cancer. There are four standard treatment options for bladder cancer:

  • Surgery
  • Radiation
  • Chemotherapy
  • Biologic Therapy1

Depending on the patient’s type and stage of bladder cancer, several treatments may be used in combination to increase the likelihood of a cure. Surgery is the dominant bladder cancer therapy chosen, and is performed in over 90% of bladder cancers (either alone are in combination with another therapy).2 For patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer, a radical cystectomy is the preferred form of treatment.3

Surgical Treatment: Cystectomy
A cystectomy is the removal of all or part of the bladder and possibly the removal of nearby lymph nodes and organs that may contain cancer. If the bladder is removed, the surgeon creates a new way for urine to leave the body. In some cases, a urinary diversion is performed to create a new way to for the body to store and pass urine.4

Cystectomy is traditionally performed using an open approach, which requires a large abdominal incision. Another approach, conventional laparoscopy, is less invasive, but limits the doctor’s dexterity, visualization and control, compared to open surgery.

da Vinci® Cystectomy
If your doctor recommends surgery for bladder cancer, you may be a candidate for a new, minimally invasive approach - da Vinci Cystectomy.

da Vinci Surgery uses state-of-the-art technology to help your doctor perform a more precise operation than conventional instrumentation allows. It offers numerous potential benefits over a conventional open surgery, including:

  • Significantly less pain
  • Less blood loss
  • Fewer transfusions
  • Less risk of infection
  • Less scarring
  • Shorter hospital stay
  • Shorter recovery time
  • Better clinical outcomes, in many cases

da Vinci Cystectomy incorporates the best techniques of open surgery and applies them to a robotic-assisted, minimally invasive approach.

The precision and dexterity afforded by the da Vinci Surgical System’s advanced instrumentation facilitates a minimally invasive approach for treating bladder cancer. As with any surgery, these benefits cannot be guaranteed, as surgery is patient and procedure specific. If you are a candidate for a cystectomy talk to a urologist who performs da Vinci surgery for bladder cancer. To find a da Vinci urologic surgeon, use our surgeon locator.

  1. National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/bladder/patient
  2. American Cancer Society 2007 Cancer Facts and Figures
  3. Wang GJ, Barocas DA, Raman JD, Scherr DS. Robotic vs open radical cystectomy: prospective comparison of perioperative outcomes and pathological measures of early oncological efficacy. Department of Urology, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Jun 2007;17:1-5
  4. National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/bladder/Patient/page4