Surgical management of noninvasive bladder cancer (stages Ta/T1/CIS)

Transurethral removal of bladder cancer is performed for diagnostic and the rapeutic reasons. Tissue is returned for histologic determination of tumor grade and stage. For tumors that do not invade the detrusor muscle, resecti on can be curative although there is a high rate of new tumor occurrence. S urgical removal not only eradicates visible existing lesions but also retri eves material for histologic evaluation. This examination allows a determin ation of tumor grade as well as stage. Because of the importance of good hi stologic information in determining prognosis and, possibly, the need for f urther therapy, the method of surgical removal is important.