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What is Bladder Cancer?
The bladder is a pouch in the urinary tract that stores urine after it is produced by the kidneys. The bladder is lined with specialized cells called transitional cells.
Bladder cancer can arise from these transitional cells. The cancer spreads by penetrating bladder muscle, infiltrating surrounding fat and tissue, and — if untreated — eventually invading the bloodstream and lymphatic system (which carries immune system factors through the body).
The earlier the cancer is detected, the more localized it will likely be and the more effective the treatment. Thanks to improved procedures for early detection, five-year survival rates for bladder cancer improved from 50% in the 1960s to over 70% in the 1990s. Though bladder cancers often recur, prompt detection means they can be stopped while they are still superficial.
The average age for getting bladder cancer is 68. Men are three times more susceptible to the disease than women, and whites are more susceptible than blacks. Bladder cancer accounts for about 5% of cancers in the U.S., or about 50,000 cases a year.
Many bladder tumors are not cancerous. Be sure to talk to your doctor to understand what type of bladder tumor you have.
What Causes It?
We do not know the exact cause of bladder cancer. But there are a number of risk factors linked to the disease.
Bladder irritation. Chronic irritation of the bladder increases the risk of cancer. Therefore, people with birth defects affecting the bladder, chronic bladder (urinary) infections, or persistent cystitis — inflammation of the bladder — are more susceptible, as are people with histories of benign bladder tumors. Also, kidney and bladder stones have been linked to bladder cancer.
Smoking and other chemical exposure. More than most cancers, bladder cancer is associated with exposure to cancer-promoting chemicals, or carcinogens. For example, cigarette smokers have two times more risk than nonsmokers of developing bladder cancer because of specific carcinogens in tobacco smoke. Painters, truckers, leatherworkers, machinists and metalworkers, rubber and textile workers, and people exposed to industrial dyes are at increased risk. People who have been treated with radiation or alkylating chemotherapy agents, such as cyclophosphamide, are also at higher risk.
Consumption of nitrates in smoked and cured meats may also be associated with bladder cancer, as may consumption of caffeine and saccharin, but the connection is so weak that some researchers question the risk at all.
Chemotherapy. Some drugs used to treat other cancers can increase the risk of bladder cancer.
Use of the herb, Aristolochia fangchi. This Chinese herb, taken by some people to help them lose weight, has been linked to bladder cancer.
Whites are twice as likely to develop bladder cancer as blacks and Hispanics. The cancer occurs more in men: Men get bladder cancer twice or three times as often as women.
Medically reviewed by Harold Burstein, MD, August 2005.
SOURCES: American Cancer Society. The Mayo Clinic
© 2005 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.
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