A rare form of digital rectal exam, but that isn’t usually how it’s diagnosed.
Most men find out they have transitional cell carcinoma of the prostate after they’ve had a transurethral resection of the prostate. That’s a procedure to treat urinary problems caused when your prostate becomes enlarged.
A surgeon inserts an instrument into the urethra through the end of the penis. With either an electric current or laser, they cut away pieces of prostate tissue. When they look at that tissue under a microscope, they can spot cancerous urothelial cells.
How Is Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Prostate Treated?
The treatment you’ll get depends on whether the cancer has spread.
- Surgery. If it’s only located in the place where it started, known as “in situ,” your doctor may recommend surgery to remove the tumor and possibly some surrounding tissue. Another option is a more extensive surgery called a cystoprostatectomy that removes the whole prostate plus the bladder, seminal vesicles, and lymph nodes.
- Immunotherapy. After surgery, you may have something called Bacillus Calmette-Guérin treatment. It’s a way of training your immune system to fight the cancer. It involves a germ related to the one that causes tuberculosis. Your urinary tract is flushed with a solution that contains the germ. This causes your immune system to attack any cancer cells that may have been left behind.
- Radiation. You may have radiation treatment after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells and keep the disease from coming back. It’s also an option for transitional cell carcinoma that has spread into other parts of the prostate and some surrounding tissue.
- Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy may be used when the cancer has spread to the lymph system or other parts of the body.
What’s the Outlook for Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Prostate?
Because this disease usually isn’t diagnosed until the cancer is advanced, it’s very hard for treatment to be successful. Once the cancer has spread to other parts of the prostate or to the surrounding tissues, men may not live more than another 3 years.
But if the cancer stays confined to the place it started – either the prostatic urethra or the prostatic ducts – it’s possible to remove it completely. Some studies found men with this kind of cancer who got surgery had a survival rate of 100%. That means they were just as likely to live at least another 5 years as men who don’t have cancer. That’s similar to the survival rate for other kinds of prostate cancer that are caught early.