More than 6,000 patients suffer from bladder cancer each year Poles. Half of them die. All because the cancer is detected at an advanced stage of development, which is too late to fight it effectively. What are the reasons for this condition? Will the oncology package, which will come into force in January 2015, change the dramatic situation of patients? These and other questions were answered by experts during the press conference "Bladder cancer - a forgotten cancer?"
Bladder canceris the fifth most common malignant neoplasm in men and the fourteenth in women - it affects over 6,000 people annually. 16 Poles hear this diagnosis every day. Unfortunately, in most cases, bladder cancer is diagnosed at an advanced stage, which means that there is little chance of a cure - more than 50 percent of patients die. According to experts, in 2013, 6.3 thousand people fell ill with bladder cancer, of which over 3.2 thousand died, and everything indicates that this number will be even greater. Poland is one of the three European Union countries (next to Romania and Croatia) where an increase in mortality due to this cancer has been recorded for years. The opposite tendency is observed in other EU countries, such as France, Italy, Spain and Norway, where the death rate from bladder cancer has decreased by more than 20 percent in recent years.
Bladder cancer - why is it detected and treated too late?
According to the report "Bladder cancer - cancer forgotten?", Only about 10 percent of patients have no more than 4 weeks from the first symptoms of bladder cancer to its detection. This applies to both the invasive form of cancer, i.e. infiltrating the bladder muscle, and the non-invasive form, i.e. non-infiltrating. Conversely, in more than 40 percent of patients with non-invasive tumors and 52 percent of invasive cancer patients, it takes more than 12 weeks. In contrast, more than 26 percent of patients with invasive cancer and more than 11 percent of patients with non-invasive cancer are not diagnosed until more than 6 months, which is definitely too late. What is the cause of this condition?
Currently, it takes 3-6 months to diagnose bladder cancer. It's definitely forlong.
The problem is Poles' ignorance of bladder cancer and thus underestimating its symptoms (especially hematuria). The he alth care system in our country is also to blame: poor valuation of therapeutic and diagnostic procedures, transfer of diagnostics from hospital wards to urology clinics that do not have the appropriate equipment, and above all, long lines to urologists. However, they are not the result of an insufficient number of specialists (according to experts, there are enough urologists in our country, as many as 1160), but of the limitation of services - emphasized prof. Marek Sosnowski, National Consultant for Urology. In addition, hospital urology departments are indebted, some even up to 2 million zlotys - adds prof. Sosnowski. Therefore, it is not possible to renew old equipment and purchase modern equipment.
Bladder cancer - what changes should be made?
Dr hab. Anna Kołodziej from the Urology and Urological Oncology Clinic of the Academic Teaching Hospital in Wrocław argues that the stage of detecting and diagnosing bladder cancer must be shortened and emphasizes that delaying the therapy beyond 12 weeks makes it impossible to cure the patient because the cancer progresses very quickly. Her opinion is shared by prof. Tomasz Demkow from the Urinary System Cancer Clinic of the Oncology Center in Warsaw, who emphasizes that the effectiveness of therapy depends on the fastest possible removal of the tumor or the entire bladder.
Haematuria should be an indication for issuing the Cancer Patient Card and further diagnostics without queuing.
85 percent of bladder cancer patients develop hematuria. Unfortunately, blood in the urine is often associated with inflammation of the bladder, which is why most patients are treated unnecessarily with furagin (a drug used in urinary tract infections) for a long time. Meanwhile, the cancer continues to grow. Therefore, each patient with hematuria (even those resolving and / or painless) should be treated as potentially suffering from bladder cancer and first referred for tests to exclude the tumor, and not treated with antibiotics - experts agree. This is the first step to faster cancer detection, and thus - to implement faster treatment that may save the patient's life.
In addition, it is necessary to make changes at the level of valuation and location of urological procedures. It is also necessary to ensure proper working conditions for urology clinics and to facilitate the performance of diagnostic procedures in hospital conditions,when it is necessary for the effective diagnosis of patients. It is also necessary to increase the contracts of urology departments, and regular 3-month checks of patients during treatment should take place as part of the Oncological Treatment Card.
Bladder cancer - hope for an oncology package?
- In the coming years, the number of diagnostic tests for cancers of the genitourinary system in hospitals will significantly decrease, while the queues at clinics will increase - claims prof. Sosnowski and adds that he is afraid that due to the unfavorable changes, the diagnosis of a malignant bladder cancer will be significantly delayed if the queued oncology package does not work properly. Unfortunately, the detection of bladder cancer is not treated by the National He alth Fund as an oncological procedure - points out Dr. Kołodziej. Therefore, Szymon Chrostowski, president of the "Wygrajmy Zdrowie" Foundation, announced that he would meet the president of the National He alth Fund to clarify this issue with him.