Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer characteristically causes blood in the urine this maybe visible to the human eye (haematuria) or microscopic blood not seen by the naked eye but diagnosed by a pathologist using a sample of urine.  Other symptoms may include painful urination, frequent urination (polyuria) or feeling of wanting to urinate but with no results.  It is important to note that the above symptoms are also similar to those of a urinary infection or other urinary conditions and is therefore very important that you seek medical advice from your local general practitioner (GP) or urologist.

 

Your medical practitioner may order you to do a urine sample to check for urinary infections or microscopic blood.  The gold standard in diagnosing bladder cancer is though biopsy of the bladder during a cystoscopy.

 

This is where the urologist places a scope though the urethra (tube that carries urine from the bladder when you urinate) the urologist is then able to see inside your bladder to look for any abnormalities. 

 

There are two main types of cystoscopy

• Flexible Cystoscopy (flexible scope inserted into the urethra using local anaesthesias)
• Rigid Cystoscopy (rigid scope inserted into the urethra using general anaesthesia)
  

Types of Bladder cancer

• Most common is transitional cell carcinoma (TCC)
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Adenocarcinoma
• Sarcoma
• Small cell Carcinoma

Treatment usually involved surgical removal of the tumour called:

Transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT)

Treatment for recurring or invasive ( but still contained to the bladder)  bladder cancer may require a complete bladder removal ( Cystectomy)