Which bladder cancer treatment usually results in a urinary diversion procedure?

• A. Partial cystectomy
• B. Radical cystectomy
• C. Intravesical therapy
• D. Radiation therapy

Answer: (B)

Removing the bladder creates a need for a new way to store and exit urine. When the entire bladder is removed, as in radical cystectomy, a urinary diversion is usually created so urine has a new path to leave the body—typically using a segment of intestine to form a conduit or reservoir (ileal conduit or neobladder). This is why radical cystectomy commonly requires a urinary diversion.

Other approaches aim to treat bladder cancer while preserving the bladder—partial cystectomy keeps part of the bladder, intravesical therapy delivers treatment directly into the bladder without removing it, and radiation therapy may shrink or control the tumor while often not necessitating diversion.