People who use intermittent catheterization are less vulnerable. Some physicians feel the risks of bladder cancer are already lowered by the development of modern antibiotics, and safer nonrubber materials now used for catheters. Anticholinergic drugs such as Ditropan, Propanthline, or Daricon are bladder relaxants which are sometimes prescribed to aid a bladder program, and which can secondarily reduce bladder irritation. The most common symptom of bladder cancer is blood in the urine. Blood in the urine does not mean that cancer is necessarily present.
Blood can also be present with urinary tract infections or other causes.
But take the symptom seriously and get examined by a urologist. The urologist might suggest a cystoscopy, a diagnostic procedure in which an instrument is inserted into the bladder. The physician can then visually search for tumors. If a biopsy seems justified during the examination, he will take a small amount of tissue for testing. Yet some doctors feel this change sometimes is a precursor to bladder cancer.