Advanced Kidney and Bladder Cancer Clinic

The advanced bladder and kidney cancer clinic at Conrad Pearson is a comprehensive program that was launched to bring together the teams and resources needed to help provide support and treatment for patients with early and late-stage bladder and kidney cancers. Dr. Ravi Chauhan leads the advanced kidney and bladder cancer program at Conrad Pearson. He is focused on pursuing new and better ways to lower the recurrence of these cancers with the advanced drugs and treatments that we now have access to.

Advanced kidney and bladder cancer refer to cancers of the kidney or bladder that have progressed beyond their original site, often spreading to nearby tissues such as the lymph nodes or even distant organs. This stage, commonly known as “metastatic” or “late stage” cancer, presents unique challenges in treatment and management. Both advanced kidney and bladder cancers are more challenging to treat and often require a combination of therapies personalized to the patient’s health and specific cancer characteristics. Advances in immunotherapy and targeted treatments offered through our clinic are providing new options for patients even with advanced stage cancers. The treatment approach is usually aimed at managing symptoms, slowing cancer progression, and improving quality of life. Regular follow-up, symptom management, and possible clinical trials for new treatments can also be part of an advanced cancer care plan.

Treatment 

When a patient has a diagnosis of cancer it will be determined if there is a low, intermediate and high risk of metastasis. At Conrad Pearson, we use PPS analytics, a data base that collects and analyzes data from urologists across the country,  to help us identify the best possible therapies for each specific cancer. We can also determine who qualifies for advanced treatments or clinical research trials.

Bladder Cancer usually involves a minimally invasive surgery to remove any tumors in the bladder. If the tumors are invasive and have spread into the muscle of the bladder then there may a need for a referral to a bladder specialist. Because bladder cancer has a high recurrence rate, we follow these patients closely over their lifetime and use medications to help prevent the recurrence.

Kidney cancer usually requires an operation to remove the cancer, or sometimes, even the kidney. Most often this can be done via Da Vinci robotic-assisted surgery that is less invasive than open surgeries.  With kidney cancer, it is recommended that follow-up treatment with newer medications be completed help prevent recurrence.

Infusion Center 

The infusion center at Conrad Pearson can provide immunotherapy which acts as a bridge between local therapy and chemotherapy to prevent cancer re-currence. Keytruda is an effective immunotherapy, and infusions can take place over the course of several weeks in our office. This powerful medication helps to ensure that any cancer cells that may have migrated outside of the area are eliminated and helps to treat locally developed cancer, so it doesn’t spread outside the bladder or kidneys. This new immunotherapy allows the immune system to detect and attack cancer cells more effectively and building up the immune response leads to better control of the cancer and, in some cases, shrink the  tumor and increase survival times.