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Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers in the elderly. Unfortunately, in Poland, bladder cancer is diagnosed too late, when the chances of a cure are slim. This is the case, inter alia, because patients ignore its first symptoms. What are the causes and symptoms of bladder cancer? What is the treatment?

Bladder canceris one of the most common cancers in older people - in most cases it is diagnosed after the age of 55. The diagnosis is most often heard by men, whose incidence of bladder cancer is four times higher than in women. They make up 3/4 of patients with bladder cancer.

Cancer of the bladder in Poland is the fifth most frequent malignant neoplasm in men and the 14th in women - it affects over 6 thousand people annually. Poles. More than half of them die.

There are two types of bladder cancer - invasive and non-invasive.Invasive bladder cancerInfiltrates the bladder muscle. It accounts for 30 percent. all bladder cancers. In turn, the remaining 70 percent. is a non-invasive tumor, i.e. the one that does not infiltrate the bladder muscle membrane.

Bladder cancer - causes and risk factors

The main risk factor is smoking (especially cigarette smoking), as the toxic substances present in nicotine enter the blood, and from it - into the kidneys, from which they end up in the bladder along with the urine. Certain chemicals may also increase the risk of cancer, especially in people who work in the leather, rubber, textile, metal, and petroleum industries and have direct contact with dyes.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned carcinogenic factors may become active even 30 years after exposure to them. This means that a person who smoked cigarettes for several years and then quits smoking, e.g. at the age of 30, may develop bladder cancer at the age of 60.

Bladder cancer - symptoms

The most common symptom of bladder cancer is bleeding in the urine, or hematuria. It may or may not be painful when urinating, or it may be painless, and it may disappear over time ( although the cancer continues to develop). In urine, you can alsonotice the presence of small clots.

- Recurrent or chronic hematuria is definitely an indication for a visit to a primary care physician who will direct you to specialist diagnostic tests - he argues in an interview with the Newsrm.tv news agency. prof. dr hab. Marek Sosnowski, head of the Urology Clinic of the Medical University of Lodz, national consultant in the field of urology. - The patient, in turn, should not delay the visit to the doctor, even if the hematuria subsides - adds the expert.

The accompanying symptoms are:

  • frequent urination;
  • baking;
  • feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder.

These are symptoms that are not specific to bladder cancer and are also associated with other urinary tract diseases such as bladder inflammation and stones.

Only people with advanced bladder cancer may develop symptoms related to local disease progression, such as:

  • pain in the lower abdomen;
  • difficulty urinating;
  • pain in the lumbar region as a consequence of impeded urine outflow;
  • anuria;

and symptoms related to distant metastases (e.g. bone pain).

Important

The symptoms of bladder cancer are similar to cystitis

Bladder cancer is a cancer that develops insidiously. There are no clinical symptoms other than painless hematuria. Sometimes the symptoms are similar to cystitis, i.e. frequent urination, nighttime urination, which is often associated with other diseases. In fact, it rarely happens that a patient is aware that this may be the beginning of an extremely dangerous, fatal disease - says Prof. dr hab. Marek Sosnowski.

Bladder cancer - diagnosis

If bladder cancer is suspected, the patient should be referred for ultrasound examination and urine sediment cytology.

In case of bad results, it is necessary to perform a cystoscopy, which allows the bladder to be viewed through an optical device inserted through the urethra. Currently, blue light cystoscopy is the most effective because it allows you to see even small neoplastic lesions (which are not visible during white light cystoscopy).

Successful diagnosis of bladder cancer is crucial as it allows the initiation of appropriate treatment in the early stages of the disease, when there is still a possibility of a complete cure.

Read also:

Bladder cancer - every second patient dies. Whetheroncology package will change that?

Urostomy - another way of peeing. How to live with a urostomy?

Cystoscopy - bladder endoscopy. What is this test?

Bladder cancer - treatment

Treatment for bladder cancer depends on the stage of the cancer at the time of diagnosis, ie whether it is invasive (invasive) or non-invasive (non-invasive). Unfortunately, currently in Poland bladder cancer is detected too late, already at an advanced stage of development.

The method of treating a tumor that does not infiltrate the muscle of the bladder istransurethral electroresection of the tumor(the so-calledTURBT) , consisting in excision of the lesion and tissues from the bottom and rim of the resection. If the histopathological examination of the tissue material shows a moderate or high-risk tumor, or if the result of this examination in terms of tumor staging is not certain, 4-6 weeks after the first TURBT, another transurethral resection of the area affected by the primary resection (resection) is performed. TUR).

Cancer infiltrating the bladder muscle is an indication for radical excision of the bladder (radical cystectomy). After its removal, a substitute intestinal bladder or so-called intestinal bladder is created. urostomy (intestinal insert with drainage of urine onto the skin). Some patients with advanced cancer often require adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation.

Bladder cancer - follow-up

Bladder cancer tends to recur and progress. Systematic control should be performed every 3 months for the first two years after the end of treatment, and then every 6 months for the next 3 years. Such observation is carried out throughout the patient's life, because in the case of bladder cancer, relapses with progression are possible for the rest of their lives.

Bladder cancer - how to prevent it?

To reduce the risk of developing bladder cancer, there are some basic rules to follow:

  • do not smoke
  • control and maintain a he althy body weight;
  • use a proper diet;
  • be physically active.

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Category:

Oncology