Pharmacy Clinical Pearl of the Day: Bladder Cancer

Clinical Pearl of the Day: Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer is a common type of the disease that begins in the cells of the bladder.

Insight:

• The bladder is a hollow muscular organ in your lower abdomen that stores urine.
• Bladder cancer most often begins in the cells (urothelial cells) that line the inside of the bladder.
• Symptoms include blood in urine, frequent urination, painful urination, and back pain.
• Types of bladder cancer include urothelial carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma.
• Risk factors include smoking, increasing age, being male, previous cancer treatment, and personal/family history of cancer.
• Treatment includes surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. Some of the drugs approved for bladder cancer include erdafitinib (Balversa), avelumab (Bavencio), cisplatin, doxorubicin , erdafitinib, Mitomycin (Jelmyto), pembrolizumab (Keytruda), nivolumab (Opdivo),enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev), and atezolizumab (Tecentriq).

Sources:

• Bladder cancer - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
• Drugs Approved for Bladder Cancer - National Cancer Institute