Bladder Cancer

Prevention

To reduce your risk of bladder cancer, don't smoke. If you already smoke, ask your doctor about proven ways to help you quit.

If you work in an occupation in which there is a high risk of exposure to chemicals that can cause bladder cancer, find out about the types of equipment that are available to reduce your exposure, then use this equipment faithfully while you are on the job. If you need more information about specific types of exposure or specific protective equipment, contact the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. NIOSH is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also is believed that people who drink plenty of water every day have a lower risk of bladder cancer than people who drink only a small amount of fluids. The water is thought to make carcinogens in the urine less concentrated.

Treatment

Treatment of bladder cancer depends on how aggressive the cancer appears under a microscope, called the tumor grade, and how much it has spread, called the tumor stage.

Tumor grade

The tumor grade is an estimate of how likely the cancer is to grow and spread rapidly. Bladder cancer is classified as high grade is it appears aggressive and has a high potential to spread and become life threatening if not treated early. High-grade cancers often need to be treated with chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. Low-grade cancers appear non-aggressive and have less than at five-percent chance of transforming to a high grade. In other words, low-grade bladder cancers do not behave like true cancers in the vast majority of patients. Bladder cancer can thus be thought of as two different diseases: low grade cancers and high grade cancers. Low-grade tumors tend to come back and, if they do, they may need to be removed repeatedly. However, they are rarely life-threatening, and aggressive treatments, such as radiation or removing the bladder, usually are not needed. In some cases, it’s hard to predict whether the cancer is likely to spread. These cancers are classified as intermediate grade. They usually are treated as high-grade tumors because it’s hard to tell whether they will be aggressive.