Stem Cell Therapy
Bladder cancer is one of the most predominant cancers that affect adults, especially in America. Bladder cancer can be described as the development of malignant tissues in the urinary bladder. The bladder is an organ in the suprapubic area of the abdomen. Its function is to store urine, that is produced in the kidneys and sent through the two ureters. Bladder cancer has the potential to spread to other parts of the body. This process is also known as metastasis. Some of the signs and symptoms of bladder carcinoma include hematuria, pain associated with urination, and low back pain. There are some factors that are responsible for the development of bladder carcinoma. Some of these factors include smoking, family history, infections, chemicals, and frequent exposure to radiations. Physicians can diagnose this disease by taking both the medical history, family history, the complaints of the patient, and also the presenting signs and symptoms. If there is a chance that the disease might be bladder carcinoma, further tests would be carried out. They include imaging tests, biopsies, CT scan, bone scan and cystoscopy. The treatment of bladder carcinoma depends largely on the stage of cancer. Treatment procedures usually vary from chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy. According to statistics, it has been discovered that bladder carcinoma occurs more in males than in females. Scientists are presently working on understanding how cancer stem cells contribute to relapse and resistance to treatments. There are hopes that doctors can buy stem cells online for the treatment of bladder cancer.
What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Bladder Carcinoma?
Bladder carcinoma presents with signs and symptoms that might vary in patients. The symptoms presented depends on the stage of the disease. However, below are some of the general signs and symptoms of bladder carcinoma;
- Hematuria: This is one of the classic signs of bladder cancer. People affected by bladder carcinoma do complain of the redness of their urine. This is due to the presence of blood. You might sometimes need the aid of a microscope to see the blood. Hematuria is one of the most prevalent symptoms of bladder carcinoma. Hematuria occurs in up to 90% cases of bladder cancer.
- Pain associated with urination: Patients also complain of pain when urinating. In addition to this, people affected by this disease also present with urine urgency, regular urination. However, these symptoms might also be present in other diseases of the urinary system. This includes benign prostate hypertrophy, infections, inflammation of the bladder and so on.
- Edema: This symptom occurs in the advanced stage of bladder cancer.
Are The Causes Of Bladder Carcinoma?
The exact cause of bladder cancer is not known yet. However, it is known that bladder cancer occurs when the cells of the bladder start growing abnormally. This can be attributed to a mutation in the DNA of these cells. These cells proliferate rapidly and without control. These cells also do not die. They just keep on multiplying. Below are some of the causes of bladder cancer;
- Smoking: Smoking is one of the most prevalent causes of bladder carcinoma. For example, the cigarette has over 64 carcinogens. This is also applicable to other types of smoking.
- Chemicals: A frequent and prolonged exposure to chemicals could lead to the development of bladder carcinoma. These chemicals could be job-related. An example can be found in painters. Inhaling aniline regularly for a long time could lead to the development of bladder cancer. Hairdressers also have a high risk of developing bladder cancer. This is because of they regularly inhale hair dyes, which are carcinogenic.
- Radiations: Frequent exposure to the high amount of radiations can lead to the development of bladder carcinoma. This occurs in people that go for regular radiation tests, such as X-ray.
- Infections: There are some parasites that increase the risk of bladder carcinoma. This is common to people that have traveled out of the United States of America.
- Obesity: Excess weight and obesity are also one of the causes of bladder carcinoma.
What Are The Risk Factors For Bladder Carcinoma?
There are some conditions that increase the risk of developing bladder carcinoma. Below are some of the risk factors;
- Age: This is one of the most important risk factors for bladder carcinoma. This disease is more prevalent in old adults. It has been observed that the disease occurs mostly in people above the age of 40.
- Smoking: Smoking cigarettes, hookahs are so on are huge conditions that predispose people to develop bladder cancer. As an illustration, a cigarette contains over 64 carcinogens. These carcinogens are ingredients for the development of bladder cancer.
- Race: Statistics have shown that white people have a higher chance of developing bladder cancer, as compared to other races.
- Gender: Males are more predisposed to having bladder cancer, as compared to women.
- Chemicals: Being exposed to some certain kind of chemicals increases the risk of developing the disease. For example, chemicals such as a dye, aniline, pain products, arsenic have all been discovered to be carcinogenic. There are also some jobs that have been linked to this disease. Painters and hairdressers belong to this category.
- Previous medical history: It has been detected that there are some drugs that could lead to the development of bladder cancer. An example of such drug is cyclophosphamide. Also, people who have to undergo radiotherapy in the past have been reported to have a high risk of a chance of being affected by bladder cancer.
- Family history: Patients that have a relative that is affected by bladder carcinoma have a high chance of developing the disease. Lynch syndrome, also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer is a familial disease that increases the risk of having bladder carcinoma.
How Is Bladder Carcinoma Currently Treated?
There are several approaches to the treatment of bladder carcinoma. These ranges from surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. The kind of method your doctor would suggest depends entirely on the stage of cancer.
Stem Cell Therapy And Bladder Carcinoma
Scientists are presently working on understanding how cancer stem cells contribute to relapse and resistance to treatments. This is important to creating an effective therapy for the treatment of bladder carcinoma.
References
Bladder cancer: diagnosis and management of bladder cancer. (2017). BJU International, 120(6), pp.755-765.
National Cancer Institute. (2018). Bladder Cancer. [online] Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/types/bladder [Accessed 12 Mar. 2018].
Pathway analysis of bladder cancer genome-wide association study identifies novel pathways involved in bladder cancer development. (2016). Genes & Cancer.
