Bladder Cancer Treatment in India at Aastha Healthcare Hospital

A bladder is a muscular hollow organ that stores urine. It is located in the pelvic region. Urine from both the kidneys passes through ureter and reaches the bladder. When the bladder gets filled up to a certain level, the nerves send signal to the brain and we may feel the urge to urinate.

What is Bladder cancer?

Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. Cancer merely indicates towards a condition in which the cells start multiplying in an abnormal way. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor. Tumors can be benign or malignant: Bladder cancer refers to any of several types of malignant growths of the urinary bladder. The process of invading and spreading to other organs is called metastasis. Bladder cancers are most likely to spread to neighboring organs and lymph nodes prior to spreading through the blood stream to the lungs, liver, bones, or other organs. Bladder cancer affects 3 times as many men as women.

Types of bladder cancers :

Urolithiasis is the medical term used to describe stones occurring in the urinary tract. Other frequently used terms are urinary tract stone disease and nephrolithiasis. Doctors also use terms that describe the location of the stone in the urinary tract. For example, a ureteral stone (or ureterolithiasis) is a kidney stone found in the ureter. To keep things simple, however, the term "kidney stones" is used throughout this fact sheet.

Types of stones include :

The wall of the bladder is lined with cells called transitional cells and squamous cells. More than 90 percent of bladder cancers begin in the transitional cells. This type of bladder cancer is called transitional cell carcinoma. About 8 percent of bladder cancer patients have squamous cell carcinomas. All squamous cell carcinomas are invasive. This means that they gradually spread to deeper layers of the bladder wall if they are not treated. By the time these cancers are detected, they have usually already invaded the bladder wall. Many transitional cell carcinomas are not invasive. This means that they go no deeper than the transitional, or urothelial, layer.

Bladder cancers are classified or staged based on their aggressiveness and the degree that they are different from the surrounding bladder tissue. There are several different ways to stage tumors. Recently, the TNM staging system has become common. This staging system contains several sub stages, but it basically categorizes tumors using the following scale:

Stage 0 - This is a Non-invasive tumor limited to the bladder lining. Cancer that is only in cells in the lining of the bladder is called superficial bladder cancer. The doctor might call it carcinoma in situ. This type of bladder cancer often comes back after treatment. If this happens, the disease most often recurs as another superficial cancer in the bladder.

Stage I -- Tumor extends through the lining, but does not extend into the muscle layer. Cancer that begins as a superficial tumor may grow through the lining and into the muscular wall of the bladder. This is known as invasive cancer. Invasive cancer may extend through the bladder wall. It may grow into a nearby organ such as the uterus or vagina (in women) or the prostate gland (in men). It also may invade the wall of the abdomen.

Stage II - In this, the tumor invades the muscle layer of the bladder.

Stage III -- Tumor extends past the muscle layer into tissue surrounding the bladder.

Stage IV - In this, cancer has spread to regional lymph nodes or to distant sites (metastatic disease). When bladder cancer spreads outside the bladder, cancer cells are often found in nearby lymph nodes. If the cancer has reached these nodes, cancer cells may have spread to other lymph nodes or other organs, such as the lungs, liver, or bones.

When cancer spreads (metastasizes) from its original place to another part of the body, the new tumor has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the primary tumor. For example, if bladder cancer spreads to the lungs, the cancer cells in the lungs are actually bladder cancer cells. The disease is metastatic bladder cancer, not lung cancer. It is treated as bladder cancer, not as lung cancer.

What are the causes?

There is no particular cause that has been found out. But Studies have found the following risk factors for bladder cancer:

Age- The chance of getting bladder cancer goes up as people get older. People under 40 rarely get this disease.
Tobacco- The use of tobacco is a major risk factor. Cigarette smokers are two to three times more likely than nonsmokers to get bladder cancer. Pipe and cigar smokers are also at increased risk.
Occupation- Some workers have a higher risk of getting bladder cancer because of carcinogens in the workplace. Workers in the rubber, chemical, and leather industries are at risk. So are hairdressers, machinists, metal workers, printers, painters, textile workers, and truck drivers.
Infections-Being infected with certain parasites increases the risk of bladder cancer. These parasites are common in tropical areas.
Medications- cyclophosphamide or arsenic are used to treat cancer and some other conditions. They raise the risk of bladder cancer.

Approximately 20% of bladder cancers occur in patients without predisposing risk factors. Bladder cancer is not currently believed to be heritable (i.e., does not "run in families" as a consequence of a specific genetic abnormality).

What are the Symptoms?

The symptoms described below are not sure signs of bladder cancer. Infections, benign tumours, bladder stones, or other problems also can cause these symptoms. So incase of these symptoms, one must consult an urologist or correct diagnosis. Moreover most of the symptoms listed below can be associated with bladder cancer, but they can also be associated with non-cancerous conditions. Nevertheless, medical evaluation is critical.

Blood in the urine

increased Urinary frequency or Urinary incontinence

Painful urination

Urinary urgency

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease are Bone pain or tenderness, abdominal pain, Anaemia, Weight loss, Lethargy (tiredness).

Disadvantages of the surgery

Bladder cancer surgery may affect a person's sexual function. Because the surgeon removes the uterus and ovaries in a radical cystectomy, women are not able to get pregnant. Also, menopause occurs at once. If the surgeon removes part of the vagina during a radical cystectomy, sexual intercourse may be difficult. In the past, nearly all men were impotent after radical cystectomy, but improvements in surgery have made it possible for some men to avoid this problem. Men who have had their prostate gland and seminal vesicles removed no longer produce semen, so they have dry orgasms. Men who wish to father children may consider sperm banking before surgery or sperm retrieval later on.

For more information on Bladder Cancer Treatment, kindly visit :
http://www.aasthahealthcare.com/Bladder-Cancer-Treatment.htm

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