Cancer of the Bladder
Cancer of the bladder most commonly arises in the cells, called transitional cells, that line it. It develops usually in a localised area, called carcinoma insitu, which may then progress. It can cause haematuria (blood in the urine) or the symptoms of cystitis, but in many cases the first symptoms are of pain, which may mean that the cancer has spread beyond the bladder. In the early stages the disease is curable by surgery, diathermy where the cells are destroyed by heat, or chemotherapy. This disease is more common in tobacco smokers, people who work with some chemicals, and in the developing world people who are infected with the agent causing schistosomiasis, a flat worm about 5 mm in length that lives in veins attached to the bladder and lays eggs which set up a chronic area of inflammation in the bladder wall. Infection occurs through washing, bathing or swimming in infected water.
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