Table of Contents
Introduction
Cancer treatment always sounds scary, with really awful side effects, and bladder cancer treatment is no different. But what about intravesical therapy? Ever heard of it? It delivers the medicine right to the point where it has to act directly into your bladder. This keeps the medicine closer to your stubborn bladder cancer cells while protecting your other organs. Side effects could be a hassle, but if you deal with it properly, it proves not to be dangerous. Bladder irritation after intravesical therapywill make you frustrated and pissed off. But with some simple tips, you can get yourself back.
What Is Intravesical Therapy?
Are you still wondering what this intravesical therapy is? Don’t break your head; the concept is very simple. When it comes to intravesical therapy, the medicine is released right into your bladder to face the cancer cells up close and hunt them down. It is just like sending soldiers to the exact place of a terrorist hideout rather than going for an airstrike to get the terrorist down. We can compare conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy to airstrikes; it harms not just your cancer cells, but your other healthy organ systems also have to suffer. That is why you often get a lot of other side effects with conventional cancer treatments. Here, the medicine used should either have the ability to destroy the cancer (cytotoxic) or activate the immune activity against the cancer cells (immunostimulators).
When Is Intravesical Therapy Used?
Intravesical therapy is not meant for all types of cancers; it doesn’t work for all. That’s quite disappointing, right? Anyway, let's see who can make use of this wonderful tool to crack down on their cancer.
Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients can confidently give this a try. Wait, wait. Do you know what NMIBC is? No idea? Don’t worry; let's go in.NMIBC is the medical name that is given for the very early stage of bladder cancer (grade zero and grade one). Simply, these are nothing but superficial bladder cancers. Why the term superficial? Any guess? Here, you can find that the cancer cells are just limited within your bladder’s superficial or top lining, and the cancer has not reached the muscular layer of the bladder wall or the other parts of the body. However, intravesical therapy isn’t always the go-to choice for all superficial bladder cancers. Your doctor will do some surgery to take out just the superficial bladder lining that has all the cancer cells in it, and that is what is called transurethral resection of bladder tumors. And then comes our hero, intravesical therapy, which came in to rescue us from other leftover bladder cancer cells.
Not just superficial ones, but some high-grade bladder cancers could also benefit from intravesical therapy. So you must be thinking about what is meant by high-grade bladder cancer, right? Once the cancer creeps into your bladder’s muscular layer and spreads beyond, that is when it is called a higher grade. However, if the cancer has moved out of your bladder, then going for intravesical therapy doesn’t make much difference. So, for higher grades where the cancer cells have crept just into your bladder’s muscles and not beyond the bladder, intravesical therapy will help.
What Are the Benefits of Intravesical Therapy?
Do you know what benefits intravesicular therapy can offer you? It has pretty impressive benefits. Let's go in and see what intravesical therapy has in store for us. Most of the perks of intravesical therapy are actually due to its unique method of delivering the medicine into our body.
You must be aware that in what we call conventional bladder cancer treatment approaches, the medicine that is supposed to work against the cancer cells in the bladder is sent out through your bloodstream. So these medicines not only act upon your bladder cells but also travel all across your body, which might impact even otherwise healthy cells.
Now, let's see what happens in intravesicular therapy. Here, the medicine is directly delivered right to the point where it has to act upon your bladder. What then? So the medicine is not unnecessarily put through your entire circulatory system - your other organ system will thank you. The medicine, whether chemotherapeutic or immunotherapeutic, is pumped straight into your bladder, where it has to work. So, the medicine mostly stays inside your bladder and doesn’t hit other organ systems. This spares other healthy organs and cells from being unnecessarily exposed to these medicines. Guess what? This can keep your systemic side effects (like hair loss, skin issues, and nausea) minimal and safeguard your vital organs like kidneys, liver, etc. That’s a great relief, right? This is the most highlighted advantage of intravesical therapy. Wait, it's not yet over; we have something more.
The direct delivery of medicine in intravesical therapy also helps keep the medicine close to the target cells, which are the cancerous bladder cells. This keeps a higher drug concentration inside your bladder, increasing the medicine's effectiveness. Better availability and effectiveness will give more power to the medicine. So now you can confidently call intravesical therapy a smarter and safer cancer treatment.
What Are the Types of Intravesical Therapy?
The first is intravesical immunotherapy, and the other is intravesical chemotherapy. Your doctors will often prefer intravesical immunotherapy as your first option; only if it fails will they look up to it. If you are considering intravesical immunotherapy, you can use BCG immunotherapy or Nadofaragene firadenovec. Both of these will reduce immune activity against your bladder cancer cells; however, that doesn't mean they work the same. No, they don't; their way of functioning is quite different. The medicine used in intravesical immunotherapy will kill off the cancer cells. There is another interesting variant of this type of intravesical chemotherapy called hyperthermic intravesical chemotherapy. Here, the chemo medicine that has to be put into your bladder will be preheated. But why? This preheating is believed to make the drug more effective against your cancer cells.
What Are the Possible Side Effects of Intravesical Therapy?
Are side effects possible? Definitely, yes, they do. Since the medicine is directly pumped into your bladder, you might feel an urgency to urinate for a few days. Sometimes, you may pee again and again or may experience some irritation or burning while peeing. You might even get some unusual lower belly cramps. Annoying, right? But the good news is, it settles down within one or two days. Another common side effect of intravesical therapythat you might come across is pink urine. What is it? It's nothing but blood in urine. Pink urine or slightly reddish urine is not an uncommon or warning sign if you just had an intravesical therapy.
You might notice flu-like symptoms, such as body pain, fever, tiredness, or something else that makes you feel like something is just not right. But in most cases, you will only get milder forms. In case you really feel awful, head straight to your doctor and get it checked.
Also, be very careful if you experience signs of allergic reactions, such as sudden swelling, skin rashes, or breathing trouble. Don't take a chance; it can be very serious.
How Can You Manage Side Effects After Intravesical Therapy?
Intravesical therapy may not be easy on your bladder - a bit rough indeed. It could leave your bladder irritated and exhausted. But you don’t have to worry. The bright side? These side effects are only manageable; some even vanish in a few days. However, it could be challenging for you to deal with in the first one or two days after your intravesical therapy. Some simple tips can ease your discomfort.
You already knew the doctor had pumped medicine into your bladder, right? And this medicine has to be flushed out through urine. So, just keep yourself well hydrated to ensure that all the medicines used in intravesical therapy are flushed out. But don’t try to overdo it - it could worsen everything. Eight to ten glasses are excellent, but one thing: don’t take them all at once; ensure they’re well-spaced out.
Try not to take coffee or caffeinated drinks; it must be a tough deal for a coffee lover. But it's just a matter of a few days. If the burning sensation troubles you the most, try a warm sitz bath. Is it technical? Just sit in warm water and keep your bottom soaked in it for 10 to 15 minutes; that’s it. Also, lots of processes must be going on in your body - it's fighting, it's healing - so just give yourself a much-needed rest. However, if you feel something is off, your discomfort is so severe, and you cannot take it down, there’s no time to wait and watch. Just head to your doctor.
Conclusion
Understanding what intravesical therapy has in store for you is crucial to making the right choice. The advantage of the therapy is that the drug does not affect the other body parts. Though it has a lot of benefits to offer you, you may find specific side effects along the way, and that’s perfectly fine. Consider such side effects as the pit stop rather than your final destination. All you need is the right caretaking tips to manage and keep going.
Key Takeaway/Note from Icliniq
At iCliniq, we are committed to making intravesical therapy comfortable and safe. We have iCliniq medical experts who are knowledgeable and can assist you with any of your concerns or queries about intravesical therapy. Be it regarding its technique, effectiveness, side effects, or tips to combat the side effects—just fire it. No more solo fights—we can guide you and help you take the right steps for your bladder health.
