“This cancer, relatively common and sometimes aggressive, is too little known,” says Benjamin Prader, president of the French Association of Urologists (AFU), and a proponent of Bladder Month.
Every year in France, it affects between 13,000 and 20,000 new people, mostly men over 60, and causes about 5,000 deaths.
“Red urine, I’m moving”
In the absence of a valid systematic screening method, warning signs are critical. “Red urine, I’m moving!” “, the slogan of the information campaign calls, referring to the first and most common symptom.
Recurrent cystitis (without detection of infection when looking for microbes in the urine) or problems with urination may also be a warning.
Bladder cancer “affects men more often, but it is more serious in women because symptoms can be misinterpreted and delay diagnosis,” says Benjamin Prader.
A scenario experienced by Katherine “51 years ago for a few days.” “After bypass surgery (bariatric surgery, editor’s note), I often had blood in my urine. The attending physician decided that this was related to the operation. It didn’t work. I was sent to an appointment with a gynecologist, who thought about micromenstruation – after all, I had an IUD.”
A quarter of patients are women
“It dragged on, to the point of contractions and constant pressure on the bladder. A visit to the gynecologist, ultrasound, always a hypothesis about micromenstruation or urinary tract infections. After a year, I couldn’t resist going to the toilet. An MRI finally showed a large mass in the bladder,” recalls the Alsatian.
Then everything happened: “8 hours of surgery” to remove the “mass”, the announcement of infiltrating cancer, removal of the bladder, uterus and lymph nodes, chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
A former nanny who doesn’t know “when or where” will be able to work again “one day”, “no longer has the same life with a bag” (for a bladder replacement) and is “not escape proof”, “carries spare clothes and protection ” “Daily life is great, but too much physical exertion causes abdominal cramps,” adds Catherine, who advises “women especially” to seek advice “if in any doubt.”
According to the president of the Association of Cancer Patients Vessy France Laurie Sirefice, “about a quarter of patients are women,” and their “proportion is growing.”
Tobacco, cannabis or occupational exposure
Among the risk factors, tobacco comes first. The body eliminates toxins present in the blood through urine stored in the bladder before being evacuated. “This link between smoking and bladder cancer is little known,” said Laurie Cyrefice.
According to Benjamin Prader, in Europe the incidence of this cancer has increased in recent years “not only due to increased detection, but also due to an increase in the number of smokers.”
Also be careful with cannabis, warned Jan Neusilier, a surgeon and member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ oncology committee: “Young patients come for consultation after being exposed to incredible carcinogens as a result of cannabis use. […] sometimes it crossed paths with something, tires, cement…”
With wider distribution, “certain exposures, especially occupational ones, can lead to bladder cancer: rubber, dyes, paints, cosmetics, some hydrocarbons, pesticides in large agricultural regions,” the President of the Armed Forces of Ukraine emphasized.
Immunotherapy and chemotherapy
Although these carcinogens are less common in the workplace than they were 20 or 30 years ago, previously exposed people remain at risk.
“I was told that my cancer could come from cigarettes, but I also worked in many factories – aluminum wheels, baby wipes, cereals, car heating and air conditioning… – so we will never know,” Ekaterina slips.
Several innovations in the therapeutic arsenal involve immunotherapy, which aims to enhance the body’s defenses against disease.
Related Posts
She is denied a liver transplant due to alcohol consumption
building bridges for peace
