The prevalence of the oncoprocess in the bladder is one of the most common diseases of the urinary organs. Bladder cancer in the weaker sex is many times less common than in the strong half. This disease is typical for people of mature and advanced age - from 50 to 80 years.
The cause of this formidable disease is a number of reasons that provoke and significantly accelerate carcinogenesis (formation, division and violation of differentiation of the oncocells) in the patient's body. The insidiousness of this malignant disease is that the first manifestations of bladder cancer appear already in the later stages, when the process goes too far. Next, we will try to pay attention to the causes, diagnosis and treatment features of bladder cancer.
Bladder cancer - causes
As we have already said, a number of carcinogenic factors are known that provoke the process of formation and division of the oncocells in the bladder. These include:
- work on harmful industries (work with aniline dyes and its components, paint and varnish, leather and rubber industry);
- smoking;
- use of drugs that have a carcinogenic effect (cyclophosphamide);
- frequent inflammation of the inner membrane of the bladder (cystitis).
Diagnosis of bladder cancer
Often, patients seek help from a doctor when they begin to feel pain in the lower abdomen. The patient for a long time can ignore such symptoms as: frequent urination , pain during palpation of the bladder, feeling of not completely emptying the bladder after urinating. The patient should be wary of staining the urine with blood, even in the absence of pain.
From clinical and laboratory studies, a general urine test is very important, which allows you to see erythrocytes in the urine (they can be in it even if urine does not turn red).
Of the additional methods of investigation, ultrasound (it allows one to see the damage to the body of the bladder, but does not see the damage to the neck) is of great importance.
Cystoscopy - during which the bladder is injected with an optical tube and examines the walls of the bladder. During the procedure, a biopsy of suspicious areas of the bladder wall is taken, followed by a study of their histology.
X-ray examination with the introduction of contrast fluid in the bladder cavity allows you to see the shape and size of the tumor.
Stages of bladder cancer
To determine at what stage the disease is located is very important, since the tactics of treatment depend on this. The following stages of the bladder are distinguished:
- bladder cancer 0 (mucosal damage to the basal membrane) stage with early detection and timely prescribed treatment guarantees recovery in 100% of cases;
- with cancer of the bladder of stage 1, the tumor grows into the wall of the bladder, but the tumor size is small;
- cancer of the bladder of the 2nd stage is characterized by a sufficiently large tumor size and germination of metastases in a number of underlying lymph nodes;
- in the 3 stages of the malignant process, the tumor grows into nearby organs;
- cancer of the bladder of the 4th degree is characterized by the presence of multiple metastases to distant organs.
Bladder cancer - treatment
In the treatment of malignant bladder pathology, operative methods of treatment and conservative (chemotherapy and radiation therapy) are distinguished. One method of treatment is used extremely rarely (if the patient is depleted and weakened), a combination of several methods is usually used.
Thus, we considered such a terrible and life-threatening condition as cancer of the bladder. To reduce the risk of the disease should avoid work in hazardous industries, to abandon bad habits and, if possible, to prevent the cystitis.