“Undoubtedly, smoking is positioned as the main risk factor in the development of bladder cancer. The relationship between the habit of smoking with lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases, while its association with the urinary tract cancers. The carcinogens present in tobacco accumulate in the urinary tract, especially in the bladder, which significantly increases the risk of cancer in this area; 50% of all diagnosed cases are secondary to smoking and a person who smokes has three times more risk of suffering from it“, stated Dr. Jeanette Burton, clinical oncologist, staff of the Oncology Service of the Dr. Leónidas Lucero Municipal Acute Hospital, in Bahía Blanca.
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Doctors advise consulting a doctor if symptoms such as blood in the urine, urinary infections and pain in the back or pelvis
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For Dr. Carlos Silva, Medical Coordinator and Psychosocial co-coordinator of the Argentine League to Fight Cancer (LALCEC): “While in general bladder cancer It usually does not show symptoms until it is in advanced stages, those symptoms that we should be attentive to and that merit consultation without delay are painless urinating with blood and clots and symptoms of bladder irritation (urinating many times, burning when urinating, urinary obstruction and pelvic pain). These may appear once and then not reappear or do so only after a long time, For this reason, one should not delay the medical consultation waiting to see if they repeat themselves.”
“In 9 out of 10 cases, bladder cancer It occurs after 55 years of age, with an average age of 70. There are currently no screening methods, as is the case for example with those of the breast, cervix, prostate or colon. That is why prevention is so important, which involves no smoking, good hydration, healthy diet, physical activity and early consultation when the first symptom appears,” stated Dr. Burton, who is also an oncologist at the Urological Surgery Center (CCU) of Bahía Blanca.
How to get to the diagnosis
To reach your diagnosis, you must perform a cytoscopy, which is a minimally invasive study through urethra until reaching the bladder and, if a suspicious lesion is found, a biopsy is performed. Regarding treatments, if the tumor is located only in the bladderthe indication is surgery, generally preceded by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy and, eventually, immunotherapy.
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In the case of women, the incidence of bladder cancer is lower than that of men, with 830 diagnoses per year
When bladder cancer occurs is in metastatic stagethat is, when the tumor leaves the bladder and spreads to other organs or tissues, Surgery is no longer an option and treatments are directly indicated systemic such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy or antibodies conjugated to cytotoxic agents. These They can occur alone or combined.
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“In recent years there have been great advances in the treatment of tumors advanced by the hand of the immunotherapy, antibodies conjugated to drugs and treatments targeting specific mutations. All these tools have allowed us improve patient survivaland talk today about coding the disease,” concluded Dr. Burton.
“The best scenarios always occur when detection and initiation of treatment are carried out early and the tumor has not spread, but we are very excited about the new developments, which are allowing us, even in metastatic stagescount on extremely effective tools”, concluded Dr. Silva.
