The bladder stores the urine for a temporary period of time before expelling it out of the body through the urethra. The bladder is situated in the pelvic region and held by ligaments. The urine is stored and expelled by the involuntary actions of the walls of the bladder. The walls relax to collect the urine and contract to expel the urine through the urethra. Bladder cancer is related to the tissues of the bladder. The cancer generally develops in the cells forming the inner lining of the bladder.
In the US, bladder cancer is considered as the fourth most prevalent non-cutaneous cancer among men; in women, it is the eighth most commonly occurring cancer. Although the exact causes of bladder cancer is not yet scientifically understood, there are certain established risk factors for this condition. The risk factors are as follows:
Age and gender also play a role in determining the risk of bladder cancer. The chances of cancer increase with age, and men are at more risk of the cancer than women. Also, according to a research report published by Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, contact with chlorinated surface water over a prolonged time and smoking increased the risk of bladder cancer.
There are different types of bladder cancer, namely, adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and transitional cell carcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma develops in the glandular cells or mucus secreting cells of the bladder. Squamous cell carcinoma develops in the squamous cells of the bladder. The transitional cell carcinoma begins in the transitional cells, which form the bladder’s internal lining. This is the most common type of bladder cancer. Chemotherapy is one of the various treatment procedures intended for bladder cancer. It involves the use of anticancer drugs to kill the cancer cells. The drugs can be given in three different ways: intravenously, in which they are given through a vein in the arm; intravesical therapy, in which a tube is passed through the urethra to the bladder and the drug is administered through the tube; orally, which involves the oral intake of the drugs. Usually, a combination of drugs is used in chemotherapy for bladder cancer.
The benefits of chemotherapy are that it is given in cycles. The doctor decides the duration of the cycles like daily, weekly, monthly or any specific period of time, based on the extent of the cancer. The gap between the chemotherapy procedures gives the surrounding healthy cells a chance to recover and thus helps to reduce the harm to the healthy cells. Also, chemotherapy is used prior to any surgical procedure in case of large size of cancerous cells. The anticancer drugs are used to shrink the cancer cell size, which can then effectively be treated with surgery.
The patients may face some sort of side effects on receiving chemotherapy for bladder cancer. It varies depending on the type such as local chemotherapy or systemic chemotherapy. The side effects of local chemotherapy include urgency in urinating, increased frequency of urinating, and pain or burning when urinating. These effects reduce with time. Some of the side effects of systemic chemotherapy include:
Chemotherapy for bladder cancer is a suitable treatment because of its low risk profile and less cost. The average chemotherapy drugs administered will cost approximately USD $ 1,600.
References