Diagnosing Bladder Cancer

New research is hopeful for earlier diagnosis of bladder cancer.  Cancer of the bladder strikes more than 50,000 men in the United States every year.  Bladder cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in men.  If this cancer is diagnosed early, the patient's quality and length of life can be successfully  preserved.  Early-stage superficial bladder tumors may be surgically shaved off, or treated with immunotherapies.  If there is a delay in the diagnosis of the bladder cancer, however, the tumor may grow and infiltrate the body.  More advanced bladder cancer requires cystectomy, the surgical removal of the bladder. 

The Danish Cancer Society and the Herlev University Hospital of Copenhagen discovered a new test to diagnose multiple tumor markers in bladder cancer.  The procedure can test urine samples and bladder biopsies.  Because early diagnosis is key to maintaining the patient's quality of life, the new study offers hope that there will be another tool in the diagnostic toolbox when bladder cancer is suspected.