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Urinary cancer is more common in men and often caused by smoking. Symptoms include blood in urine, difficulty urinating, and pain. Diagnosis is through cytoscopy and treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Prognosis depends on location and timing of diagnosis.
Urinary cancer is cancer that originates in the urinary tract. Metastatic urinary cancer begins in the urinary tract and spreads to nearby structures in the body. This type of cancer is about three times more common in men than in women, and smoking greatly increases the risk of developing urinary cancer. The prognosis for people with this cancer depends on where the cancer is located and when the diagnosis occurs.
The first sign of urinary cancer is usually blood in the urine, which may or may not be visible. People may also have difficulty urinating or find that urinating is very painful. Also, people with urinary cancer often have a strong urge to urinate, but cannot produce urine. If the cancer begins to spread, the lymph nodes in the groin may swell and the patient may experience pain and tenderness in the lower abdomen.
This cancer can affect the bladder, the kidneys, the ureters that drain fluid from the kidneys to the bladder, or the urethra that drains urine from the bladder to outside the body. It is diagnosed during a cytoscopy procedure, in which a catheter is inserted into the urinary tract with a camera attached for the purpose of viewing the inside. Biopsy samples can be taken, and if a urinary cancer appears isolated, the doctor can go ahead and remove it during cytoscopy.
Treatments for urinary cancer include removal of the cancerous growth, removal of an entire kidney or bladder if the cancer is highly invasive, chemotherapy, and radiation. The goal is to kill the cancer and prevent it from spreading before it has a chance to damage nearby organs. For patients requiring bladder removal, the doctor will need to create an artificial bladder and set up a drainage system; historically this was done by draining urine into a bag outside the body, but more advanced systems now allow people to drain urine by inserting a catheter, or sometimes even through the urethra itself, just as in normal urination.
An oncologist can discuss a specific prognosis with a patient. Some things to think about when diagnosed with urinary cancer include the prognosis offered by the doctor, the number of treatment options available, and the risk of metastasis. It may be helpful to see another doctor for a second opinion to get a different perspective on the situation before making any final decisions about how to move forward.
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