an awareness campaign against bladder cancer has begun

Bladder cancer affects 13,000 to 20,000 new people each year and causes about 5,000 deaths.

“Red urine, I’m moving!” The French Association of Urology (AFU) is launching an awareness campaign against bladder cancer in May. Much less well known than prostate cancer, bladder cancer nevertheless affects between 13,000 and 20,000 new people every year and is responsible for about 5,000 deaths.

While this affects more men over 60 and smokers, it does not spare women either. According to the president of the patients’ association Cancer Vessie France, Laurie Sirefice, “about a quarter of patients are women” and their “proportion is increasing.”

“We must dare, we must go, we must consult”

This is the case for Sarah, who was diagnosed 7 years ago. “I had blood in my urine and that alarmed me. At first I thought it might be a problem with the (menstrual) cycle, I didn’t ask myself that question, I left it for a month or two.” I went to see my GP and then he referred me to a urologist,” she tells BFMTV.

After tests and an ultrasound, she learned that she was suffering from bladder cancer, for which she had to undergo surgery. She is now a member of Cancer Vessie France and wants to raise public awareness of the importance of early diagnosis.

“Unfortunately, this is a disease about which very little is still known to the public, it is quite difficult to talk about these parts of the body because it is intimate, but you need to dare, you need to go there, you need to consult. – she encourages.

In the absence of a valid systematic screening method, warning signs are critical. The presence of blood in the urine is the most common symptom. But it can also manifest itself as repeated cystitis, without detecting an infection when looking for microbes in the urine, or problems with urination.

Bladder cancer “affects men more often, but it is more serious in women because symptoms can be misinterpreted and delay diagnosis,” said Benjamin Prader, a member of the Army Cancer Committee.

Consult “if in doubt”

The scenario experienced by Catherine. “After bypass surgery (bariatric surgery, editor’s note), I often had blood in my urine. The attending physician thought it was related to the operation. It didn’t go away. I was sent to a gynecologist who was thinking about micromenstruation because I had an IUD,” she told AFP.

“It dragged on, to the point of contractions and constant pressure on the bladder. Contacting a gynecologist, ultrasound, always hypotheses about micromenstruation or urinary tract infections. A year later, I could no longer restrain myself from going to the toilet. Finally, a large mass in the bladder was discovered,” recalls the 51-year-old 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 exercise causes stomach cramps,” adds Catherine, who advises “women especially” to seek advice “if in any doubt.”

Link between smoking and bladder cancer

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 having been exposed to incredible carcinogens as a result of cannabis use (…) in combination sometimes with anything, tires, cement …’.

Immunotherapy to strengthen the body’s defenses

More broadly, “certain exposures, especially occupational ones, can lead to bladder cancer: rubber, dyes, paints, cosmetics, some hydrocarbons, pesticides in large agricultural regions,” Benjamin Prader emphasized, if these carcinogens are less than 20 or 30 years ago. in the world of work, previously exposed people continue to be at risk.

Several innovations in the therapeutic arsenal involve immunotherapy, which aims to enhance the body’s defenses against disease.

For locally advanced or metastatic patients, antibodies targeting specific cancer cell molecules (“antibody-drug conjugates,” ADCs) also show promise in combination with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, according to recent research.