This type of cancer typically occurs in people over 40 and strikes men four times as often as women. Smoking is a major risk factor, as is exposure to certain chemicals used in dyes and combustion products industrially. The most common early symptom of bladder cancer is blood in the urine, unaccompanied by pain or discomfort. Your doctor may also order a series of x-rays and visually examine your bladder wall with a cystoscope, a slender tube fitted with a lens and a light that can be inserted through the urethra. Treatment Options Appropriate treatment depends on how far the cancer has spread.
Early disease requires only local therapy to the bladder itself.
Surgery is used to treat more than 90 percent of bladder cancer, either alone or in combination with other treatments. Superficial cancers can often be removed at the time of the cystoscopy, making major surgery unnecessary. In transurethral resection, the doctor uses another tool with the cystoscope, either to remove the cancer or burn it away with high-energy electricity. Cystectomy is the surgical removal of the bladder. Segmental cystectomy removes only the part of the bladder while radical cystectomy removes the entire bladder and suspicious surrounding tissue.