What is Bladder Cancer?
Bladder is an organ consisting of muscles, where urine is stored in the lower part of the abdomen and filtered through the kidneys. Malignant tumors on the inner surface of the bladder, which occur as a result of abnormal growth of cells, are called bladder cancer. Bladder cancer, which occurs mostly in later years, is one of the most common types of cancer today. With the appearance of the same symptoms and symptoms in men and women, men are 3-4 times more likely than women to have bladder cancer.
What are the Symptoms of Bladder Cancer?
Bladder cancer, like many other types of cancer, may not show symptoms at the first stage, but it still has some symptoms. These symptoms include;
- The most common symptom of bladder cancer; blood seen in urine, clots in urine and inability to urinate. Bleeding in the urine that is pink, red or burgundy should be taken into account. Especially in patients 50 years and older, a specialist urologist should be seen as soon as possible as a result of the appearance of bloody urine.
- Feeling pain while urinating decreased amount of urine, frequent urination requirement, difficulty urinating or urinating in an intermittent and slow flow.
- Inexplicable and rapid weight loss.
- Difficulty in bowel and bladder control or complete loss of control.
- More common cases; feel stiffness or pain in the ribs, back, hips or calves.
What are the Treatment Methods of Bladder Cancer?
The degree of the disease is determined according to the results of the tests to diagnose bladder cancer. The treatment method is decided according to the degree of the disease.
In low-grade disease, i.e. in patients where the tumor does not progress to the muscle tissues in the bladder, cancerous tissue can be separated from the bladder by TUR procedure performed by cystoscopy. If deemed appropriate, it can be performed even during the cystoscopy procedure performed during the diagnosis stage. After this procedure, patients are checked at regular intervals and the chance of rapid intervention is obtained against the risk of recurrence of cancer.
In cases where cancerous cells progress to muscle tissue but do not spread to organs and lymph nodes, cancer treatment can be performed by radical cystectomy. Prostate, bladder and lymph nodes are removed with radical cystectomy treatment.
In cases where cancerous cells spread to the lymph nodes and other organs, which we call Metastatic Bladder Cancer, chemotherapy that covers the whole body may be preferred.
If you suspect Bladder Cancer, you should immediately contact a urologist. As with all types of cancer, early diagnosis in Bladder Cancer increases the chance of treatment. I also recommend that men over the age of 50 see a specialist urologist regularly for control, especially for bladder cancer and other urological and male reproductive diseases, even if they see no symptoms.