As researchers try to zero on specific causes of various cancers, they frequently come up with surprising results.
Bladder cancer is no different. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that in 2008, there were 68,810 new cases of bladder cancer in the United States and there were 14,100 deaths related to bladder cancer. So far, researchers know that the following may increase your risk of developing bladder cancer:

Family history of bladder cancer
Being over age 40
Being a man
Being white
Smoking
Certain professions, such as hairdressing, leather workers, textile workers, printers, painters, etc.
Having had a parasitic infection
Having been treated with medications called cyclophosphamide or …read more

The well known major risk factors for developing bladder cancer are prolonged exposure to certain environmental pollutants and chemicals.
As the body absorbs carcinogenic chemicals, such as cigarette smoke, the chemicals are transferred to the blood, filtered out by the kidneys and expelled from the body through the urine.
Greater concentrations of chemicals in the urine can damage the endothelial lining of the bladder and increase a patient’s odds of developing transitional cell carcinoma (TCC).
One group of people that are regularly exposed to smoke and chemical fumes are firefighters – more than any other group.

Now, University of California –San Francisco reported at …read more

Wow, it’s Monday again!? Yeah it is. Another manic Monday…
I hope you guys had a great weekend. I hope you are recharged, rested and was able to unwind.
Here are the top five I found today, at the cancer front:

Fat Women ‘At Greater Cancer Risk’
Alzheimer’s or cancer: Which disease would you rather die from?
Eating broccoli can help prevent bladder cancer
Boy’s cancer project takes off
Amgen To Use Lab21 Diagnostic Test For Cancer Gene

Well, that’s all for now folks! I hope you are up and about for the daily grind this week.

HPV or Human Papillomavirus is a common cause of sexually transmitted diseases where humans are exposed to and will fall ill when colonized by the virus from sexual relations.
Previous studies have identified that HPV may have serious consequences that include some types of cancer: cervical, anus, vulva, penis, oropharyngeal (the middle part of the throat behind the mouth including the back of the tongue, the soft palate, the side and back walls of the throat).
Now, according to Universidad de Granada study, HPV may cause bladder cancer:
The researchers from Granada have focused their study on bladder cancer and have found some …read more

How would bladder cancer be diagnosed? A battery of screenings that often include cytoscopy – a painful procedure that uses a small camera threaded through the urethra to image the bladder’s interior.
What if you only have an infection after all? Then the battery of tests were not only a waste of time and money, but also invasively unnecessary.
This is why scientists are working towards the development of a “dipstick” test that would easily single out patients with tumor in their bladders against those who only have infections. Also, a dipstick or a urine test will not only be non-invasive but …read more

Ikonisys Inc. is a developer of automated cell-based diagnostic products. The diagnostic products of Ikonisys are an automation of a standard but time-consuming laboratory technique: fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), which identifies chromosome aberrations associated with various diseases.
Recently, Ikonisys Inc.’s oncoFISH™ bladder has been cleared by the USFDA for marketing in the United States.
oncoFISH™ bladder detects aberrations for chromosomes 3, 7, 9, and 17 in cells found in urine sediment that help in the initial diagnosis of bladder cancer in patients with hematuria (blood in the urine) and the subsequent monitoring for tumor recurrence in patients previously diagnosed with bladder …read more

Scientists at Jefferson Medical College and Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center probably have identified a potential target for drugs by demonstrating that a growth factor protein called proepithelin plays a crucial role in the spread of bladder cancer.
Because proepithelin seem not to strongly promoter cell proliferation but instead promotes migration and invasion (two crucial steps leading to metastasis) then it could be could be critical for the passage of a cancer from a noninvasive to an invasive phenotype.
Andrea Morrione, Ph.D. (research assistant professor of urology), Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia, heading the …read more