An interesting fact is that the cases of bladder cancer have gone up in recent years and it is now the 4th most common cancer in males. Unfortunately, the number of women suffering from bladder cancer has also substantially increased which is believed to be due to a lack of awareness of the symptoms of bladder cancer and the bladder cancer signs to be looking out for.
1What Causes Bladder Cancer and How Is It Diagnosed?
According to a recent study, one of the major causes associated with bladder cancer are urinary tract infections that persist for extended periods of time. Typically, the most common symptom and one of the early symptoms of bladder cancer is the presence of blood in urine visible enough to be seen by the patient. Urine mixed with a lot of blood is also referred to as hematuria. There are cases where small amounts of blood that aren’t visible to the human eye are mixed with urine. This is also known as microscopic hematuria. Detection is possible via a urine test alongside other tests.
It is not possible have a conclusive bladder cancer diagnosis with a urine test only. This is because the presence of blood in urine is not a symptom exclusive only to bladder cancer. It is also one of the kidney cancer symptoms and is also often associated with urinary tract infections and kidney stones.
One other common urine test used for diagnosing bladder cancer is cytology. In this test, urine samples from a patient are studied using a microscope to check for the existence of any cancerous cells.
