Among the oncological pathologies of the genitourinary system, the formation of tumors affects the bladder more often. Knowledge of the signs of the disease will help you notice the alarming symptoms and seek help.
What is bladder cancer?
This is a group of different types of formations that are malignant in nature and localized within the bladder. In the total number of pathologies associated with oncology, no more than three percent of the disease falls on the described zone.
Classification of
Malignant bladder formations differ in several principles. Pathologies arise from different types of cells.
The main types of cancer tumors:
- Adenocarcinoma - pathology is formed from gland cells.
- Squamous cell carcinoma - the name of the disease corresponds to the name of the cells from which this type of tumor originates. The problem arises in a flat epithelium.
- Transitional cell carcinoma occurs from the corresponding type of cells.
- Lymphoma - a kind of pathology in this area is rare. The formation is caused by the accumulation of leukocytes, affected by the tumor process.
- Small cell carcinoma - also in the urinary bladder area there are no more than one percent of the formations of this species. Characterized by the proliferation of small cells, which have changed in such a way that it is no longer possible to understand what kind of tissue they belonged to.
Education by nature of growth is divided into these varieties:
- Ulcerous - resemble an ulcer with indistinctly marked margins.
- Papillary - look like growths, can be on the stem.
Kinds of cancers of the bladder are distinguished:
- Low-grade cancer is a pathology that consists of cells so modified by disease that it is not possible to determine to which species they belonged before.
- Highly differentiated cancer - the cells that make up the pathology have changed as a result of the disease to some extent.
Causes of development of
Tumor process in the bladder region is provoked by such factors:
- Presence in the body of papillomas. They belong to benign formations. They have the property of regenerating into oncological structures.
- The influence of smoking on the appearance of pathological processes in the genitourinary system was revealed.
- Contact with chemicals that are involved in the production of rubber and some other processing lines. The main substances that initiate bladder cancer are aromatic amines. It was found that people who left production, where they came into contact with this chemical, developed bladder oncology even after ten years.
- The bladder is sensitive to the effects of ionizing radiation. If the patient treated adjacent organs with the bladder using this method, then the irradiation can serve as a provocation to his disease.
- Chronic cystitis is dangerous because a prolonged inflammatory process can induce cells to mutate into cancer cells.
- There are rare cases of congenital anomalies of the walls of the bladder, such patients are at risk due to the possible oncology of this organ.
Symptoms of illness in men and women
The first manifestations of the disease are not very expressive, they are similar to the symptoms of other diseases:
- Discomfort associated with urination. It can be painful, with pauses. The appearance of pain when emptying the bladder, res.
- The presence of blood in urine may be noticeable in color or determined by analysis.
- Appears:
- malaise,
- decline of strength,
- pain in neighboring organs.
The prostate can worsen the picture, which often worries men with age and is a cause of difficulty urinating. Sometimes, on the contrary, the disease of neighboring organs provokes cancer of the bladder.
Diagnosis
The specialist reviews the patient's complaints to make assumptions about what kind of problem could cause the malaise.
The doctor performs a palpation test. If the formation is significant, then it can be detected.
The specialist for an accurate diagnosis prescribes an instrumental study:
- The method of diagnosing bladder cancer with ultrasound gives information about the presence of pathology, location in the cavity of the organ, as far as the formation has penetrated into other layers and tissues.
- Cystoscopy is a method of achieving a double result: detecting a tumor and taking a material to a study( biopsy). Using a catheter through the urethra, the device penetrates into the body, capable of transmitting information about the presence of pathology and pinching off a small part for analysis.
- Radiography - this method is informative if it is supplemented by contrasting. Oxygen is introduced into the tissue around the bladder and into the body itself. This allows the tumor and metastases to clearly identify themselves.
- There are cases when the cystoscopy is not shown, based on the characteristics of the patient. Then, urine analysis is used, which allows to determine whether there are atypical cells in its composition. The soluble precipitate is tested for the ubc test, which is a kind of marker of pathological cells.
- Magnetic resonance imaging is often used when the presence of a tumor is determined. The method makes it possible to obtain accurate data on pathology, its interactions with neighboring tissues and organs, and whether there are metastases.
- Computer tomography similar to the previous method is very informative. She is also able to inform about the condition of the bone system.
Stages of
How the disease has developed and spread its influence on adjacent tissues shows a gradation of pathology at the stage:
- Finding the formation on the mucous membrane of the organ.
- The stage at which the pathology has spread to the next layer of the wall of the bladder is muscle.
- At the 3 rd stage, the pathological formation expanded its extent into the wall to adipose tissue and the external surface of the organ. At this stage, you can make the removal of the bladder. If treatment is properly organized, half of patients have the opportunity to live more than five years.
- This stage does not respond to treatment. At this stage, the tumor spread to neighboring organs. The patient is supported by medicines, chemotherapy, to the extent possible to improve the rest of life. A five-year period at this stage is overcome by about five percent of patients.
Treatment of
Cancerous bladder tumor is best removed at an early stage. They use chemotherapy. Radiotherapy is used in a separate method or in combination with others, in addition, immunotherapy can be used.
Operation
If the tumor is small, then it is possible to use a closed operation to remove it. Using a catheter, a device capable of removing formation is introduced into the cavity under video surveillance. The resulting tissue is sent for histological analysis. The method is called transurethral resection.
Videoconference on the possibility of organ-preserving treatment of bladder cancer:
A significant spread of education, germination in the walls of the organ can create a situation where it is advisable to remove the organ from the affected neighboring tissues.
Radical operation involves the solution of the urinary issue:
- the formation of urine output into the intestine, sometimes make an output on the skin;
- creation of an artificial urinal and urinary tract.
Other therapies
- Radiation therapy. Applied in complex treatment or separately as an independent method.
- Chemotherapy. It can be used before surgery, after it. If surgery is too late, chemotherapy is used to ease the patient's condition. An effective local procedure is intravesical chemotherapy. Patients may be prescribed medication or intravenous injections.
- Immunotherapy. The means that stimulate the body to resist the disease better are involved in the treatment of the patient.
- Conservative treatment. The method of introducing the BCG vaccine into the bladder has proved itself very positively. The effect surpassed the results of chemotherapy. Applied in the case of early disease. After the operation, the method is also recommended. It can not be used if the patient has tuberculosis and bleeding in the bladder.
- Folk remedies. On the advice of a specialist, sometimes in the course of treatment of bladder cancer includes celandine juice. He is appointed to take one teaspoon per day for a week. They drink grass juice with milk. If tolerated well, the dose can be doubled. The course is determined by a duration of one month.
Relapse
The reaction of the body after surgery can be directed to a relapse: the creation of a new tumor from the remaining pathological cells. As much as possible depends on the stage of maturity of the tumor and the degree of differentiation.
Surface small formations are least likely to resume. The type of formations with low differentiation is capable of more rapid development.
Complete removal of the bladder with tissues, which can be affected by the pathological process, with respect to the development of recurrence is the most favorable method. When transurethral resection is used to cut off the formation, BCG therapy, chemotherapy is used to avoid recurrence.
Prognosis of survival after bladder removal
How promising the treatment will be depends on many factors:
- type of education,
- maturity pathological process( degree of development),
- method, which was used for treatment.
Transitional cell carcinoma often creates superficial tumors that, when removed at the initial stage, give a good prognosis. Up to eighty percent or more are healed of the disease.
If treatment is started in the early stages of the disease, five years or more live up to eighty percent of patients. Treatment of patients with bladder cancer, ripe to the third degree, reduces the forecast of five-year survival rate to thirty percent.
Prevention
- Live in a zone with normal ecological conditions.
- Must quit smoking.
- Do not expose the body to ionizing radiation.
- Avoid contact with chemicals, especially aromatic amines.
- Treating chronic inflammation of the urogenital system.
How can you catch bladder cancer, will tell the following video: