Urological Cancers

Chemotherapy may also be recommended as part of your treatment plan. This can be taken orally or through an IV. Often, chemotherapy is used before or after surgery, or to treat cancers in their most advanced stages.

Additional therapy options that may be used include:

• Hormone therapy
• Immunotherapy
• Targeted therapy

Our entire care team is available to answer questions, provide relief and help you heal. Find the location nearest to you and schedule an appointment with an SSM Health urological oncologist and experience for yourself how we can be there to help you heal.

Radiation therapy may be an option for treating your cancer. Our radiation oncologists use a number of procedures that can focus treatment on the affected area, all while minimizing unnecessary exposure to nearby healthy tissue. These procedures include:

• 3D-conformal radiation therapy
• Brachytherapy
• External beam radiation therapy (EBRT)
• Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)
• Interventional radiology

If you and your doctor decide that surgery is the best treatment option, you may undergo one of the following to remove the tumors and cancerous cells from your body:

• Adrenalectomies: removal of a diseased adrenal gland in kidney cancer cases
• Cystectomies: removal of the entire bladder and sometimes the surrounding organs and tissue
• Laparoscopic surgery: minimally invasive procedure to remove all or part of a cancerous bladder or kidney
• Partial nephrectomy: tumor removal focused on preserving as much of the kidney as possible
• Radical nephrectomy: removal of tumor, entire kidney and surrounding tissue
• Radical prostatectomy: removal of entire prostate and often the removal of seminal vesicles and lymph nodes in pelvic area
• Transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) with fulguration: burning of bladder tumor with a laser or fulguration (high energy electricity) by a cystoscope through the urethra