What is Bladder Cancer ?

So what is bladder cancer ? To start you need to to know that the lifetime probability of developing invasive bladder cancer is 1 in 28 for men and 1 in 88 for women in the U.S. Bladder cancer has a high tendency toward multifocality at presentation and at recurrence after treatment. Bladder cancer is common worldwide. In rare cases, cancer spreads to the bladder muscle. The survival rate for bladder cancer is considered very good. ACS says if it’s discovered early, before it spreads, the five year survival rate is 94 percent.

Ok, so let’s continue understanding more about what is bladder cancer? Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and ninth most common cancer in women, accounting for more than 60,000 new cases and ~12,000 deaths in North America in 2004. Cystoscopy and urinary cytology is the standard of care for detection of bladder cancer, but cystoscopy is expensive and invasive, while cytology has low sensitivity. The type and combination of various treatments to be followed will be decided by physician based on the stage bladder cancer is in and the complexity involved. Stage II bladder cancer is classified as a “deep” or “invasive” bladder cancer.

Having bladder cancer is a life-changing disease for you and your family. Accepting that you have bladder cancer may be hard. Bladder cancer is associated with a number of occupations or occupational exposures. The first such association was observed in 1895 by Rehn (34 ), who reported high rates of bladder cancer among men employed in the aniline dye industry. The main risk factor for bladder cancer is smoking. Cigarette smokers are much more likely than other people to get bladder cancer.

Later on I will be talking a bit more about what is bladder cancer .