Condition
Bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is a malignant growth of the bladder tissue, whose number one cause is smoking. It advances quickly if not diagnosed and treated in time, which is why blood in the urine should always be treated as an emergency and studied right away.
What is it, and what is its main cause?
It is a malignant growth of the bladder tissue. It is beyond doubt that the number one cause of bladder cancer is smoking. These tumors advance quickly: if not diagnosed and treated in time, a small, curable lesion can become an infiltrating, metastatic one.
What are the symptoms?
In early stages, the symptom is blood in the urine: either macroscopic (visible to the naked eye) or microscopic (detected only on a urine test). Blood in the urine should always be treated as an emergency, especially if there is no pain, no frequent urge to urinate, and no burning. This is the most prudent and responsible approach, since failing to first consider a malignant cause could mean overlooking an aggressive diagnosis such as bladder cancer.
How is it diagnosed?
The steps for diagnosing bladder cancer are:
- Cystoscopy
- General urine test
- Urinary tract ultrasound
How is it treated?
Once the disease is diagnosed, or when there is suspicion based on ultrasound or cystoscopy, it must be surgically resected. This is the fundamental, primary step, and it must be done urgently, since it is at once diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic.
