[Diagnosis and treatment of bladder and prostate cancer in early stages]

Both bladder and prostate cancer could be treated successfully when diagnosed at the early period of their natural history. Cystoscopy is the most important diagnostic test for the early detection of bladder cancer, particularly in patients complaining of asymptomatic macrohematuria. Superficial bladder cancers (Stage Ta or T1) could be treated by either transurethral resection or intravesical instillation of anticancer drugs with the bladder function reserved. Among diagnostic modalities for prostate cancer, transrectal sonography (TRS) offers the most reliable information in staging the disease. Organ-confined prostate cancer (Stage A or B) is expected to have good prognosis when treated by either radical prostatectomy or hormonal manipulation. Mass screening using digital rectal examination, prostate specific antigen and TRS is promising for the early detection of prostate cancer.