BLADDER CANCER

The wall of the bladder has several layers. The urinary bladder consists of three layers that are the epithelium and the subepithelial connective tissue, the muscularis, and perivesical fat. From the three main types of bladder cancers, Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), accounts for nearly 90 percent of cases. Less common bladder cancers types include squamous cell carcinomas. Different types of bladder cancers are treated differently and treatment process may vary from patient to patient.

Epidemiology 

• Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignancies and it occurs more commonly in males.
• Approximately 54,000 Americans will be diagnosed with bladder cancer this year.

Risk Factors

• The most common factors include smoking, exposure to chemicals and schistosomiasis.
• Smokers face twice the risk of having cancer compared to nonsmokers.

Symptoms

• Most common symptom of bladder cancer is blood in the urine. It is usually a painless symptom.
• Others include an increased frequency of urination, urgency to urinate, and feeling the need to urinate but not being able to, and painful urination.

Diagnosis

• It is often diagnosed by examining cells in the urine under a microscope and by inspecting the bladder with a cystoscope—a slender tube fitted with lens and a light that is inserted into the bladder through the urethra.
• If diagnosed with cancer, then a tissue sample is removed during the cystoscopic procedure and examined under a microscope. Also, a computed tomography (CT) may be needed to determine the stage of the cancer.

Treatment

• Treatment for bladder cancer varies greatly depending on the state of the disease at the time of diagnosis.