Preventing Bladder Cancer Is Now Easier Than Ever
If you’ve read Second Opinion for very long, you know I’m not a big fan of most screening tests for cancer. Why don’t I endorse cancer screens? Because almost all of them detect cancer after it has developed. By then it is usually far too late.
I’m not one who subscribes to the theory that early orthodox detection will save you. In most cases, by the time our methods can detect cancer, it has been present for years and most likely has spread. Your chances then will depend on your own immune system to mount a defense, not on conventional slash (surgery), poison (chemotherapy), and burn (radiation) techniques.
However, there are exceptions. If you can detect a lesion before it spreads, medical intervention makes sense. An example is a colon or bladder polyp. Colon polyp detection requires a complicated procedure, such as a colonoscopy or X-ray virtual colonoscopy. Removal at this stage can prevent colon cancer, which is the best thing you can do. While checking for colon cancer is complicated, checking for bladder cancer couldn’t be easier. And this is a test we all should do.
A recent study showed how easy it is. The researchers said you can significantly reduce your risk of invasive bladder cancer simply by checking your urine for blood.
That’s right! It is that easy.
The researchers followed 1,575 men for 14 years. They agreed to do daily home testing for two 14-day cycles, nine months apart. If positive, the researchers sent the men for routine investigations for hematuria (blood in urine). This evaluation would include a cystoscopy. That’s where a small scope is placed through the urethra into your bladder. With this test, the doctor can have a bird’s eye look at where the blood is coming from.
About 16% of the men tested positive. Of those, the tests found 8.1% actually had cancer. What’s important is than none of the men died of bladder cancer during the study. In contrast, a large control group had 104 bladder cancer deaths out of 509 cases. The difference in mortality was the greater likelihood (in the screened group) of discovering the cancer before it had invaded.
Bladder cancer, while not especially common, is not rare. If it has invaded and spread, doctors will often seek to remove your bladder and make a pouch out of part of your colon. The effects of this re-plumbing, as well as the small chance of surviving cancer-free, are pretty dismal. It’s much better to prevent!
The good news is that you don’t have to see a doctor for the screen. Hemastix is a readily available (at your drugstore or online) way for you to screen your own urine for blood. It’s real easy. If the indicator turns blue, that suggests blood. If it’s positive, I definitely recommend a visit to a urologist for more definitive testing. Premenopausal women should avoid testing around their periods, as that could lead to a false positive.
Ref: Family Practice News, July 15, 2006.
