The European Association of Urology’s monograph on
palliative care includes a section on pain management for
patients with bladder cancer [10].
Bladder cancer is the fifth most prevalent cancer in the United
States, but its symptoms have not been well studied [11–16].
A recent study demonstrated that cystectomy to potentially
cure bladder cancer did not improve presurgery symptom
burden 6 months after surgery for a number of important
symptoms and may have worsened others [17]. Bladder
cancer and its treatment create significant distress, but
symptoms may not be adequately assessed, and few
interventions have been prospectively evaluated using
validated instruments [17–19]. In particular, palliative care
offered concurrently with surgical oncologic care for
patients with bladder cancer being treated with curative
intent has not been studied.
To assess the effect of concurrent palliative care in
bladder cancer, we examined symptoms, quality of life, and
satisfaction among patients undergoing cystectomy for
muscle-invasive bladder cancer and receiving usual uro-
logic care for 6 months postoperatively. We compared
outcomes from this group with those from patients receiv-
ing concurrent palliative care.