The role of radiotherapy (RT) in the treatment of urinary bladder cancer has undergone several modifications along the last decades.
In the beginning, definitive RT was used as treatment in an attempt to preserve the urinary bladder; however, the results were poor compared to those of radical surgery. Recently, many protocols have been developed supporting the use of multi-modality therapy, and the concept of organ preservation began to be reconsidered. Although phase III randomized clinical studies comparing radical cystectomy with bladder preservation therapies do not exist, the conservative treatment may present low toxicity and high indexes of complete response for selected patients. The aim of this study was to review the literature on the subject in order to situate RT in the current treatment of urinary bladder cancer.
Written by:
Marta GN, Hanna SA, Gadia R, Correa SF, Silva JL, de Andrade Carvalho H. Are you the author?
Department of Radiation Oncology-Oncology Center, Hospital Sirio-Libanes, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Reference: Int Braz J Urol. 2012 Mar-Apr;38(2):144-53; discussion 153-4.
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 22555038
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