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Nonmuscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
Source: Bladder Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version, National Cancer Institute.
Source updated: May 2, 2025 · Captured 2026-09-09.
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Context: Treatment Option Overview for Bladder Cancer
Treatment of nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancers (Ta, Tis, T1) is based on risk stratification. Essentially all patients are initially treated with transurethral resection (TUR) of the bladder tumor, followed by a single immediate instillation of intravesical chemotherapy (mitomycin is typically used in the United States).[1-7]
Subsequent therapy is based on risk and typically consists of one of the following:[6-9]
Surveillance for relapse or recurrence (typically used for tumors with low risk of recurrence or progression).
A minimum of 1 year of intravesical treatments with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) plus surveillance for relapse (typically used for tumors at intermediate or high risk of progression to muscle-invasive disease).
Additional intravesical chemotherapy (typically used for tumors with a high risk of recurrence but low risk of progression to muscle-invasive disease).
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