Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Is Bladder Cancer Slow Growing

Must Read

How Fast Does Bladder Cancer Grow

Cancer Growth Rate and Managing Slow-Growing Lung Cancers

Theres no question how fast does bladder cancer grow?. Then what is the answer to the question about? We here give a bit of information that might lead to such questions. First of all you need to know what is a bladder cancer, diagnosis, causes, how to prevent bladder cancer, and much more.

What is Bladder?

The bladder is an organ situated in the lower stomach area near the pelvic bones that functions as a reservoir for urine. The bladder can hold about half of a liter of urine and expands, but a person usually feels the urge to urinate when the bladder is 25% full. When it is empty, the bladder will contract and become smaller. Due to the bladderâs skill to expand and contract, its thought of as a balloon that was muscle. Ureters, which are the two tubes connecting the kidneys to the bladder, empty urine to the bladder.

The innermost lining is composed of cells known as transitional or urothelial cells, and is called the urothelium, or transitional epithelium. A thin layer is called the lamina propria, which is made up of connective tissue, blood vessels and nerves. The next layer is known as the muscularis propria, which consists of muscle. The last layer is a layer of fatty connective tissue that separates the bladder.

What is bladder cancer?

The causes of bladder cancer and am I at risk?

How do I prevent bladder cancer?

What screening tests are employed for bladder cancer?

Do you know the signs of bladder cancer?

How is bladder cancer diagnosed?

TX

Whos At Risk For Bladder Cancer

There are 70,000 new cases of bladder cancer each year in the United States. The male-to-female incidence ratio is about 3 to 1. Your chances of developing bladder cancer increase with age.

The most common risk factor is smoking, which accounts for at least half of all new cases. Other risk factors include:

  • abuse of phenacetin, an analgesic
  • long-term use of cyclophosphamide , a chemotherapy drug and immune suppressant
  • chronic irritation due to a parasitic disease called schistosomiasis
  • chronic irritation from long-term catheterization
  • exposure to certain industrial chemicals used in the dye, rubber, electric, cable, paint, and textile industries

Tests That May Be Done

Physical exam: The doctor will check you for signs of bladder cancer and other health problems. This might include a rectal exam, during which a gloved finger is put into your rectum. If you are a woman, a pelvic exam might also be done. During these exams, the doctor can sometimes feel a bladder tumor.

Urine tests: For these tests, you’ll be asked to pee in a cup. Your urine is then tested for cancer cells, blood, or certain proteins .

Cystoscopy: For this exam, a doctor called a urologist looks at the inside of your bladder using a tool called a cystoscope. This is a thin tube with a tiny light and camera on its end. It’s put through the opening of your urethra and moved up into your bladder.

Blue light cystoscopy: Sometimes, special drugs are put into the bladder during the exam. Cancer cells soak up these drugs and then glow when the doctor shines a blue light through the scope. This can help the doctor see cancer cells that might have been missed with the normal light.

Bladder biopsy: This is needed to know for sure if you have bladder cancer. For this test, a cystoscope is used it to take a tiny piece of the bladder . More than one sample may be taken because sometimes cancer starts in more than one part of the bladder. Salt water washings of the inside of your bladder may also be collected to look for cancer cells. Any samples are sent to a lab and tested to see if there are cancer cells in them.

Also Check: How Do Bladder Infections Happen

What Will Happen After Treatment

You’ll be glad when treatment is over. But its hard not to worry about cancer coming back. Even when cancer never comes back, people still worry about this. For years after treatment ends, you will see your cancer doctor. Be sure to go to all of your follow-up visits. People who have had bladder cancer are at high risk of having a second bladder cancer.

If you have no signs of cancer, most experts advise seeing with your doctor every 3 to 6 months. These visits might include urine tests, blood work, and other tests. If you still have your bladder, you will need regular exams of your bladder, too. The time between doctor visits may be longer after a few years if no new cancers are seen.

Having cancer and dealing with treatment can be hard, but it can also be a time to look at your life in new ways. You might be thinking about how to improve your health. Call us or talk to your doctor to find out what you can do to feel better.

You cant change the fact that you have cancer. What you can change is how you live the rest of your life making healthy choices and feeling as well as you can.

Is Prostate Cancer Slow Growing

Treating Stage 1 Bladder Cancer

This year, more than 300,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. In most cases, the cancer consists of small knots of abnormal cells growing slowly in the walnut-sized prostate gland. In many men, the cancer cells grow so slowly that they never break free of the gland, spread to distant sites, and pose a serious risk to health and longevity.

Read Also: Can Prostatitis Go Away On Its Own

Don’t Miss: How To Fix Bladder Leakage Naturally

How Is Bladder Cancer Staged

Cancer staging describes how much the cancer has grown and invaded the area, explaining the extent of the disease. Bladder cancer is often found at an early stage, as hematuria starts early in the course of the disease. Sometimes bladder cancer can advance to invasive disease before causing symptoms. To best understand staging, you need to know how cancer spreads and advances in stage.

Cancers can spread and disrupt how normal organs work. Bladder cancers often begin very superficially, involving only the lining of the bladder. Bladder cancers can invade the bladder wall, involving the muscular layers of the wall. As bladder cancer grows it can invade the entire way through the wall and into the fat surrounding the bladder or even into other organs . This local extension is the most common way bladder cancer spreads.

When cancer spreads to another area in the body, that area is called metastasis. Cancer can also spread through the lymph system and the bloodstream. Bladder cancer often spreads locally or to lymph nodes before spreading distantly, though this is not always the case. The lungs and bones are the most common areas for metastases to develop. When bladder cancer spreads to another area, it is still bladder cancer. For instance, if it spreads to the lung, it is not called lung cancer, but bladder cancer that has metastasized to the lung. If we look at the affected lung tissue under a microscope, it will look like bladder cancer cells.

When To Make An Appointment With Your Urologist

Bladder cancer may be overlooked in women because its easy to chalk up symptoms to a stubborn UTI or normal vaginal spotting. Unfortunately, this means women are often diagnosed after the cancer has spread and become harder to treat. So if youre worried, dont just write off your symptoms. Call your doctor to determine if its a minor infection or something more serious. If it is bladder cancer, its easier to treat if you catch it early.

If you would like to talk to a urologist, you can see if we have a location near you or you can contact us to ask a question or make an appointment.

You May Like: Over The Counter Bladder Medication

Gleason Score For Grading Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is also given a grade called a Gleason score. This score is based on how much the cancer looks like healthy tissue when viewed under a microscope. Less aggressive tumors generally look more like healthy tissue. Tumors that are more aggressive are likely to grow and spread to other parts of the body. They look less like healthy tissue.

The Gleason scoring system is the most common prostate cancer grading system used. The pathologist looks at how the cancer cells are arranged in the prostate and assigns a score on a scale of 3 to 5 from 2 different locations. Cancer cells that look similar to healthy cells receive a low score. Cancer cells that look less like healthy cells or look more aggressive receive a higher score. To assign the numbers, the pathologist determines the main pattern of cell growth, which is the area where the cancer is most obvious, and then looks for another area of growth. The doctor then gives each area a score from 3 to 5. The scores are added together to come up with an overall score between 6 and 10.

Gleason scores of 5 or lower are not used. The lowest Gleason score is 6, which is a low-grade cancer. A Gleason score of 7 is a medium-grade cancer, and a score of 8, 9, or 10 is a high-grade cancer. A lower-grade cancer grows more slowly and is less likely to spread than a high-grade cancer.

Are Tumors Of The Bladder Generally Slow Growing

Bladder Tumor Removal with TURBT – Urology Care Foundation
  • Sean T

Sean TAre tumors of the bladder generally slow growing?

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • jones

jonesAre tumors of the bladder generally slow growing?

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Alan

AlanAre tumors of the bladder generally slow growing?

Read Also: Can Stress Cause Overactive Bladder

Treatment Of Bladder Cancer By Stage

Most of the time, treatment of bladder cancer is based on the tumors clinical stage when it’s first diagnosed. This includes how deep it’s thought to have grown into the bladder wall and whether it has spread beyond the bladder. Other factors, such as the size of the tumor, how fast the cancer cells are growing , and a persons overall health and preferences, also affect treatment options.

Drugs To Treat Cancer Spread To Bone

If prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it almost always goes to the bones first. These areas of cancer spread can cause pain and weak bones that might break. Medicines that can help strengthen the bones and lower the chance of fracture are bisphosphonates and denosumab. Sometimes, radiation, radiopharmaceuticals, or pain medicines are given for pain control.

Side effects of bone medicines

A serious side effect of bisphosphonates and denosumab is damage to the jaw, also called osteonecrosis of the jaw . Most people will need to get approval from their dentist before starting one of these drugs.

Also Check: What Is Bladder Sling Surgery

Questions To Ask Your Doctor

To help understand the progression of prostate cancer, discuss these questions with your doctors:

  • What is my Gleason score?
  • Has the cancer spread outside my prostate?
  • Whats my prostate cancer stage?
  • Are other tests needed to determine my cancer stage?
  • What are the treatment options for my stage of cancer?
  • Can I avoid treatment right now and go on active surveillance?

Also Check: Is Zinc Good For Prostate

Start And Spread Of Bladder Cancer

Hongqian GUO

The wall of the bladder has many several layers. Each layer is made up of different kinds of cells .

Most bladder cancers start in the innermost lining of the bladder, which is called the urothelium or transitional epithelium. As the cancer grows into or through the other layers in the bladder wall, it has a higher stage, becomes more advanced, and can be harder to treat.

Over time, the cancer might grow outside the bladder and into nearby structures. It might spread to nearby lymph nodes, or to other parts of the body.

Also Check: How To Prevent Bladder Infection After Intercourse

Gleason Prostate Cancer Score

1960s as a way to measure how aggressive your prostate cancer may be.

A pathologist determines your Gleason score by looking at a biopsy of your prostate tissue under a microscope. They grade the cells in the biopsy on a scale of 1 to 5. Grade 1 cells are healthy prostate, whereas grade 5 cells are highly mutated and dont resemble healthy cells at all.

The pathologist will calculate your Gleason score by adding together the number of the most prevalent type of cell in the sample and the second most prevalent type of cell.

For example, if the most common cell grade in your sample is 4 and the second most common is 4, you would have a score of 8.

A Gleason score of 6 is considered low-grade cancer, 7 is intermediate, and 8 to 10 is high-grade cancer.

Dont Miss: Can Bph Cause Constipation

Tnm Staging System For Bladder Cancer

The TNM staging system uses letters and numbers to describe the bladder cancer.

  • T is how far the tumour has grown into the bladder, and how far it has spread into the surrounding tissues.
  • N is whether the tumour has spread to the nearby lymph nodes.
  • M is whether the tumour has spread to another part of the body .

Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer means the cancer cells are only in the inner lining of the bladder. This means non-muscle-invasive bladder cancers are always N0 and M0.

Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer can be staged as CIS, Ta or T1.

Don’t Miss: Icd 10 Code For Overactive Bladder

Risk Factors Of Bladder Cancer

By far, smoking is the biggest risk factor to be concerned about when it comes to bladder cancer. According to the National Institutes of Health, about 50% of women diagnosed with bladder cancer are smokers. Because the rate of occurrence is so much higher for smokers, if you notice any of the above symptoms and you smoke, let your doctor know as soon as possible.

Another major risk factor is previously having bladder cancer. Bladder cancer has a 50-80% recurrence rate, which is among the highest of any form of cancer. This is why it is imperative to continue to see your physician and be on the lookout for any symptoms of bladder cancer if youve had it before. When in doubt, get it checked out.

Age is another major factor. The average age of diagnosis in women is 73. Any woman over the age of 55 years old should keep an extra eye out for symptoms.

When Should I See A Doctor

Bladder cancer Medical animation

If your pee is pink, bright red or cola-colored, book an appointment right away. Yes, its scary but chances are you may not have cancerUTIs, kidney stones, or some other kind of infection can also cause bleeding. But even if you do, bladder cancer is way more treatable if caught in an early stage than later on, when you may need extensive surgery. The five-year survival rateor the percentage of people who are alive five years after their diagnosisfor all patients is 77%. For those whose tumors are caught at the earliest stages its a very reassuring 96%.

Don’t Miss: Chronic Bladder Infection In Men

How Is Bladder Cancer Diagnosed

Anyone with blood in the urine should have other testing done. Often, the first thing that is done is a urine cytology, which looks at the urine under a microscope to find abnormal appearing cells. If these cells are seen, a diagnosis of cancer may be made. However, the test does not detect all cases of bladder cancer.

  • An X-ray of the upper urinary tract may be done to diagnose bladder cancer or to see if these structures contain cancer.
  • Ultrasound can be used to study the kidneys.
  • A CT scan is used to look at the entire urinary tract.
  • An intravenous pyelogram can be used to study the urinary tract. An IVP puts a dye into a patient’s vein and then an x-ray is done a short time later. The dye exits the body via the kidneys and urine and can be seen on the x-ray, showing the kidney collecting system, ureters, and often the bladder.

Though the above tests are useful, the most important test for diagnosis and staging is a cystoscopy. A fiberoptic camera is placed into the bladder, going through the urethra. Cystoscopy allows the provider to see the entire bladder and biopsy any suspicious lesions. If the biopsy reveals cancer, a repeat cystoscopy and resection is done to see the whole tumor and if it has started to spread.

If you are diagnosed with cancer, you will also have a complete physical done. Your provider will tell you what tests you need to have done to help determine the extent of the cancer and if it has spread.

Tests For Bladder Cancer

Your doctor may do some tests to check for bladder cancer:

  • internal examination the doctor may check inside your bottom or vagina with their finger, using gloves
  • urine tests your urine will be checked for signs of bladder cancer
  • blood tests to check your general health
  • ultrasound a scan on the outside of your abdomen to check for cancer
  • cystoscopy the doctor puts a small camera into your bladder to see inside
  • biopsy the doctor takes a small sample of the cells from the bladder to check for signs of cancer.

Your doctor might ask you to have further tests. These can include:

  • CT scan and x-rays scans that take pictures of the inside of the body, sometimes also called a CT-IVP or a triple phase abdominal-pelvic CT scan
  • MRI scan a scan that uses magnetism and radio waves to take pictures of the inside of the body
  • bone scan a scan that uses dye to show changes in your bones
  • FDG-PET scan a scan that uses an injection of liquid to show cancer cells.

You May Like: Cramping In Bladder Or Uterus

More articles

Popular Articles