Occupations with high exposure to arylamines include dye workers, rubber workers, leather workers, truck drivers, painters, and aluminum workers. Because of this association with bladder cancer, some arylamines have been eliminated or greatly reduced in occupational settings. Coffee, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners have all been studied as risk factors for bladder cancer, but associations, if they exist, are weak. The greatest prevention strategy is reduction in the consumption of cigarettes. We now know that cigarette use increases one's risk for bladder cancer by two to five times, but when cigarette smokers quit, their risk declines in two to four years.
Most bladder cancers are carcinomas of the transitional epithelium of the bladder's mucosal lining.
Tumors are graded according to the degree of cellular abnormality, with the most atypical cells designated as high-grade tumors. Staging of this cancer is based on the depth of invasion into the bladder muscle and surrounding structures. One of the problems in managing the disease is that the carcinoma of the bladder frequently multifocal. The entire bladder epithelium and the lining of the entire urothelial cell tract can undergo malignant change. The NCI has an extensive research portfolio related to bladder cancer with over 80 individual research projects funded.