Bladder Cancer Outline

What you need to know about bladder cancer

It's the cancer you may not have heard a lot about, but bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men. Women get bladder cancer, too. The older a person gets, the higher the risk of having bladder cancer. Doylestown Health's bladder cancer experts offer a complete range of state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment options close to home.

What is bladder cancer?

The bladder is a hollow organ in the pelvic area with flexible, muscular walls. It stores urine before it leaves the body. The typical bladder holds between 12 and 16 ounces of urine. Bladder cancer begins when cells in the bladder start to grow abnormally and uncontrollably.

What are the signs and symptoms of bladder cancer?

The most common symptom of bladder

The risk of bladder cancer increases as a person ages. About nine out of ten people who have bladder cancer are older than 55. The disease is rare in people younger than 40, though it has happened in people as young as their twenties.

How is bladder cancer diagnosed?

Cystoscopy is a common procedure used to diagnose bladder cancer. This can be done under local anesthetic in a urologist's office or an outpatient surgery center. During cystoscopy the physician inserts a narrow tube through the urethra. The tube has a light and lens that allows the physician to see inside the bladder and urethra. The tool can also remove cells to check for cancer, called a biopsy.

Urologists may also order a CT scan (computerized tomography) to take images inside the body. A test called urine cytology will check for abnormal cells under a microscope.

How important is early detection of bladder cancer?

"Early detection is critical," said Doylestown Health urologist Kevin Fitzgerald, MD. "The earlier cancer is detected, the less likely it is that it has spread into the muscle wall of the bladder and the greater the likelihood of treating it