Bladder cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the urinary system, and the incidence rate ranks first among the malignant tumors of the urinary system. Overseas, the incidence of bladder cancer ranks second only to prostate cancer among male genitourinary tumors; in China, it is the first and has been increasing in recent years. Bladder cancer mostly occurs in middle-aged and elderly people above 50 years old, and the incidence rate grows accordingly with increasing age. The occurrence of bladder cancer is closely related to factors such as diet, smoking and drinking water.
Q1: Will bladder cancer be detected at an advanced stage like prostate cancer, or what kind of tests can be used to detect it?
A: Thankfully, the bladder is connected to the outside world through the urethra, and the primary manifestation of bladder cancer is usually the tumor breaking down and producing hematuria, so once patients find hematuria, they will go to the hospital in time, and basically, they will find it, and it is basically early bladder cancer.
The main reason that causes patients to delay treatment of bladder cancer is that the symptoms are painless and there is no other discomfort, and this kind of bleeding is often self-limiting. Patients may not urinate blood once or twice, and sometimes they may even have a second hematuria only after several months or years, which is often not taken seriously, thinking that it is nothing special to urinate blood once, and they only go to the hospital when they constantly urinate blood, which is often in the middle and late stages.
Besides, detecting bladder cancer can also be done by checking whether there are red blood cells in urine; it can also be done by some special tests, such as looking at whether there are shed cancer cells in urine, if shed cancer cells are found in urine, it can also diagnose bladder cancer. However, the test of urine shedding cancer cells is usually some targeted tests. For example, those who are at high risk, or those who have hematuria, because the detection rate of urine shedding cancer cells is not very high for early bladder cancer. Bladder tumors can also be detected through ultrasound, CT and other examinations. Of course, the most important thing is to diagnose bladder cancer through cystoscopy and tumor tissue biopsy.
The earliest symptom of bladder cancer is often the hematuria we see. Once there is hematuria, especially in people over 40 years old, it needs to be paid high attention. Some young people also have hematuria, but it is often related to sports, urinary system malformation, etc.
Q2: How will the treatment of bladder cancer affect the patient’s life?
A: For bladder cancer detected in early stage, it is usually not necessary to remove the whole bladder, it can be treated by electrodesection, electrocautery or laser, and most of them can save the bladder. However, for those advanced bladder cancer, most of them need to remove the whole bladder. After removing the bladder, some patients will change the urination channel to other channels, which may cause some inconvenience in life.
Q3: How high is the success rate of bladder cancer surgery?
A: There are risks in any surgery, but for bladder tumor, the risk, mortality rate and complication rate after surgery are not very high. Therefore, patients and their families should treat these problems correctly. Some complications are related to the disease and some are related to the special conditions of the human body.
Q4: After bladder cancer surgery, if there is no recurrence within two years, does it mean there will be no recurrence?
A: Recurrence of bladder cancer after surgery usually occurs within two years, but it does not mean that it will not recur after two years. Once you have bladder cancer, even if there is no recurrence, you should go to the hospital at least once a year after two or three years for a medical checkup. If the problem can be detected early, the organ can still be preserved.
Q5: Where will bladder cancer metastases to first?
A: The most common type of bladder cancer is metastatic cell carcinoma of the bladder, which is now called uroepithelial carcinoma of the bladder. The main characteristic of this type of cancer is that it is easy to recur, and metastasis usually occurs late. metastasis.
Q6: What are the triggers of bladder cancer?
A: The occurrence of all tumors is the result of a combination of internal and external factors. Cancer can occur only when there are some changes in internal factors and induced by some external factors, and the situation is different for each person. So far, because the exact cause of bladder cancer has not been clarified, it is only known that there is some association with the chemical industry, but it is not true that all people who are exposed to these industries of chemicals will get bladder cancer, to really identify the cause of bladder cancer has to be confirmed by further research in the medical community.