Bladder Cancer: Symptoms, Risk Factors, and Treatments
Bladder cancer is a common type of cancer beginning in the cells of the bladder, a hollow muscular organ in the lower abdomen that stores urine. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 83,730 new cases of bladder cancer in 2021 in the United States. It is the tenth most common cancer worldwide.
You can search online to learn more about the early signs of this disease and what you can expect from treatment.
What is Bladder Cancer?
This cancer begins when the cells in the bladder develop mutations in their DNA, which causes them to multiply rapidly and form a tumor that destroys the healthy body tissue. These abnormal cells can break away and spread throughout the body. There are three main types of bladder cancer including urothelial carcinoma (accounting for about 90% of cases), squamous cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma.
Risk Factors
There are several risk factors that can lead to bladder cancer. Your risk increases as you age, as it’s commonly diagnosed in people over the age of 55. Your sex may also affect your chances of getting this disease, as diagnosed patients are predominantly male.
Other risk factors that are connected to bladder cancer include:
- Smoking, as causes harmful chemicals to accumulate in the urine, damaging the lining of your bladder
- Arsenic and exposure to chemicals used in manufacturing dyes, rubber, leather, paint, printing, and textiles
- Radiation treatments aimed at the pelvis for previous cancer
- Chronic bladder infections
- A family history of this type of cancer
It’s important to remember that you can’t always prevent bladder cancer, though there are some ways to lower your chances. If you have multiple risk factors, it’s also a good idea to monitor yourself for symptoms over your lifetime.
Signs and Symptoms
Pain or a burning sensation while urination and low back or pelvic pain are both common symptoms. Similarly, changing bladder habits, such as feeling that you need to urinate without much urine production, frequent or urgent urination, or having a weak urine stream is common. Blood in the urine either visible to the naked eye or detected by a lab test are also typical signs of bladder cancer.
Diagnosing Bladder Cancer
The majority of bladder cancers are detected at an early stage when the cancer is highly treatable. If you are showing any symptoms of bladder cancer, a physical exam conducted by a medical physician and a review of family history will be helpful.
Medical tests and procedures are used to pinpoint the cause of the discomfort. A cystoscopy is a common diagnostic method, which involves the doctor inserting a small and narrow camera through the urethra. A biopsy may also be taken during this procedure. A urine text and CT scan are two other popular diagnostic tools used by medical professionals.
If it’s confirmed as cancer, the doctor will label the cancer with a corresponding stage which will help determine the best treatment options. Ongoing follow-up tests in subsequent years are also needed to look for reoccurring cancer.
Treatment Options
The good news is that bladder cancer has a good chance of being successful if caught and treated early. A team of urologists and oncologists will decide on a course of action to either eliminate the cancer or help a patient manage symptoms. Surgery is often used to remove cancer in the muscle layers of the bladder walls, parts of the bladder, or even the entire bladder depending on where the cancer has spread.
Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation therapy are three other treatments for bladder cancer. Depending on the patient, a combination of treatments may be done to target the cancer.
If you are experiencing any of the signs indicative of bladder cancer, make an appointment to speak with your doctor get a diagnosis, and determine the appropriate course of treatment. The average five-year survival rate for people with bladder cancer is 77 percent, and the earlier it’s caught, the better the prognosis.