Risks of Bladder Cancer

Risk factors include:
Increasing age. Your risk of bladder cancer increases as you age.
Being white. Whites have a greater risk of bladder cancer than do people of other races.
Smoking. Smoking cigarettes, cigars or pipes may increase your risk of bladder cancer by causing harmful chemicals to accumulate in your urine. When you smoke, your body processes the chemicals in the smoke and excretes some of them in your urine.
The two main risk factors for bladder cancer are smoking and exposure to chemicals at work. Your risk if you smoke is up to 6 times higher than a non smoker. Chemicals in cigarette smoke get into the bloodstream and end up in the urine. This brings them into contact with the bladder. Chemicals used in some industries can also cause bladder cancer. Most have been banned in the UK for about 20 years, but you may have been exposed to them in the past.
Researchers have long considered smoking a risk factor for bladder cancer, a disease that strikes about 55,000 Americans each year. But the results of a new study published in the January 2001 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggest that risk may be far higher than previously thought. The same study, however, indicates that coffee may protect against bladder cancer, especially among smokers. Analyzing data from 500 diagnosed cases of bladder cancer, as well as 1,000 control subjects, the researchers found that non-coffee drinking smokers were seven times more likely to develop the disease as non-smokers.

Surgery for Bladder Cancer

The TURBT is the most conservative surgery for bladder cancer. Still, it has some side effects including possible bleeding and infection, perforation of the bladder, and blocked ureters.

Transurethral resection generally takes place in the hospital with the patient under general anesthesia. The doctor inserts a cystoscope, a small, lit camera, in through the urethra and into the bladder. A small tool with a wire loop at the end is inserted through the cystoscope. A high-frequency electric current passes through the wire tool removing and burning cancer cells. This method is called fulguration. In some situations, fulguration will not be enough to eradicate the tumor.A radical cystectomy consists of the surgical removal of the bladder as well as the tissue and some of the organs around it. For men, the prostate and the seminal vesicles, and possibly the urethra, are often removed. For women, the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, part of the vagina, and the urethra are often removed. A pelvic lymph node dissection, removal of the lymph nodes in the pelvis, may also be performed to determine whether the cancer has spread to these lymph nodes. Pelvic lymph node dissection adds little to the overall side effects of radical cystectomy, improves staging accuracy and may be curative in some patients with minimal lymph node involvement.Cystectomy. This procedure removes the bladder and is useful in cases that involve more widespread bladder cancer. If you are having a partial cystectomy, only part of your bladder is to be removed. Partial cystectomy is usually done when the cancer is in only one small part of the bladder.A urostomy (or ileal conduit) is the most common operation and it means your urine will be collected in a bag. During the operation the surgeon removes a section of your small bowel and joins the two ureters to one end of it. They bring the other open end of the bowel out through the skin of your abdomen.

The ureters carry urine from your kidneys to the piece of bowel. The piece of small bowel (ileum) acts as a channel (conduit) to take the urine to the surface of the abdomen. This is why this operation is sometimes called an ileal conduit. The small hole on the surface of the abdomen, through which the urine now passes out of the body, is called a stoma.

Diagnosis and treatments

Treatment for bladder cancer depends on the stage of the disease, the type of cancer, and the patient's age and overall health. Options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy. In some cases, treatments are combined (e.g., surgery or radiation and chemotherapy, preoperative radiation).Immunotherapy uses your body's immune system to fight cancer cells. The Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine (used to prevent tuberculosis or TB) has been shown to be effective for treating some non-muscle invasive bladder cancers. It's put directly into your bladder (intravesical BCG) using a catheter. Treatment is given at weekly intervals, usually for six weeks. See Related topics for more information.Clinical studies may have various endpoints such as tumor recurrence, tumor progression or patient survival. In clinical trials comparing transurethral resection plus and an intravesical agent versus transurethral resection alone, a significant reduction in tumor recurrences was noted in 4 of 5 BCG studies, 2 of 5 mitomycin studies, 2 of 4 doxorubicin studies, and 6 of 10 thiotepa studies; and a significant reduction in tumor progression was documented in 3 of 3 BCG studies, 0 of 2 mitomycin studies, 0 of 2 doxorubicin studies, and 0 of 3 thiotepa studies.8 Of these agents BCG is the only one shown to result in a survival advantage over transurethral resection alone. The above studies demonstrate why BCG is favored as the first-line intravesical agent. However, recent pharmacologic studies involving mitomycin suggest its efficacy can be substantially increased by completely draining the bladder prior to drug administration, minimizing urine production, alkalinization of urine, and increasing the drug concentration.9 Application of these types of pharmacologic principles may also improve the efficacy of doxorubicin and thiotepa.Patients at high risk for cancer recurrence may also receive bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy after surgery.1 This therapy is the standard treatment for superficial bladder cancer. BCG uses inactivated tuberculosis bacteria (which cannot cause tuberculosis) to produce an inflammatory response in the bladder; the inflammation controls tumor growth. The treatment is given once a week for six weeks. Afterward physicians usually examine patients with a cystoscope every few months to ensure that the bladder is healthy and tumor free.Metastatic bladder cancer is cancer that has metastasized, or spread, to other organs such as the lungs, liver, or bones. This type of cancer is most commonly treated with chemotherapy designed to shrink the tumors.

What Causes Bladder Cancer

researchers aren't sure of what exactly causes bladder cancer. They have, however, identified several risk factors for bladder cancer. A bladder cancer risk factor is something that increases the likelihood of developing bladder cancer. It does not guarantee you will develop the disease.Each year about 10,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with bladder cancer. Men get bladder cancer much more commonly than women. It’s rare for anyone under the age of 50 to get it but it becomes more common as people get older. Cancer of the bladder isn’t infectious and can’t be passed on to other people.Exposure to carcinogenic chemicals, that is, chemicals that are known to cause cancer. These include chemicals used in the rubber and dye industries.
Smoking tobacco.
Chronic urinary tract infections.
Schistosomiasis, a parasitic infection common in the tropics.Cancer that starts in thin, flat cells of the bladder are also possible; this type is called squamous cell carcinoma. Adenocarcinoma is also possible - this type of cancer begins in the cells that make Some studies also suggest that auto mechanics have an elevated risk of bladder cancer due to their frequent exposure to hydrocarbons and petroleum-based chemicals.[3] Hairdressers are thought to be at risk as well because of their frequent exposure to permanent hair dyes. A 2008 study concluded specific fruit and vegetables may act to reduce the risk of bladder cancer.and release mucus and other fluids.

symptoms of bladder cancer

Bladder cancer characteristically causes blood in the urine; this may be visible to the naked eye (gross hematuria) or detectable only by microscope (microscopic hematuria). Other possible symptoms include pain during urination, frequent urination (Polyuria) or feeling the need to urinate without results. These signs and symptoms are not specific to bladder cancer, and are also caused by non-cancerous conditions, including prostate infections and cystitis. Kidney cancer also can cause hematuria.The great majority of bladder cancers are diagnosed at an early stage — when bladder cancer is highly treatable. However, even early-stage bladder cancer is likely to recur. For this reason, bladder cancer survivors often undergo follow-up tests to look for bladder cancer recurrence for years after treatment. bladder cancer has an unusually high propensity for recurring after treatment. Bladder cancer has a recurrence rate of 50%-80%. The recurring cancer is usually, but not always, of the same type as the first (primary) cancer. It may be in the bladder or in another part of the urinary tract (kidneys or ureters).Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All cancers begin in cells, the body's basic unit of life. Cells make up tissues, and tissues make up the organs of the body.

What is Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer refers to any of several types of malignant growths of the urinary bladder. It is a disease in which abnormal cells multiply without control in the bladder.[1] The bladder is a hollow, muscular organ that stores urine; it is located in the pelvis.Bladder cancer is a type of cancer that begins in your bladder — a balloon-shaped organ in your pelvic area that stores urine. Bladder cancer begins most often in the cells that line the inside of the bladder. Bladder cancer typically affects older adults, though it can occur at any age.The bladder is a hollow organ in the lower abdomen (pelvis). It collects and stores urine produced by the kidneys.Bladder cancer accounts for approximately 90% of cancers of the urinary collecting system (renal pelvis, ureters, bladder, urethra). The bladder is an organ located in the pelvic cavity that stores and discharges urine. Urine is produced by the kidneys, carried to the bladder by the ureters, and discharged from the bladder through the urethra.

Bladder Cancer Overview, Types of Bladder Cancer - Bladder Cancer - Urology Channel The bladder is a hollow organ in the lower abdomen. It stores urine, the liquid waste produced by the kidneys. Urine passes from each kidney into the bladder through a tube called a ureter.