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 arsenic for other medical problems

That being said, having some of those factors doesn’t mean you will get bladder cancer, but the more risk factors you do have, the higher your risk.

Researchers have discovered more risks to add to the list. This article, Certain Ecologic Factors Associated With Greater Risk Of Bladder Cancer, describes the results of a study done at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The article says, “The study reaffirmed that cigarette smoking is directly associated with bladder cancer incidence and mortality rates in men and women, and found that well water intake is directly associated with bladder cancer incidence in women and mortality rates in both sexes; and that exposure to solar UV radiation is inversely associated with bladder cancer incidence and mortality rates in both sexes.”

It’s an interesting study, which hopefully can bring more to the table in terms of ways we may be able to prevent bladder cancer.

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Image: Stock.xchng

Post from: Blisstree

Well Water May Up Risk for Bladder Cancer

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 the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA), research findings suggesting that firefighters may be at an increased risk of developing transitional cell carcinoma (TCC or bladder cancer).

Thereby, they said that firefighters (current and retired) must be considered for annual screening for bladder cancer, though no guidelines exist for the screening of TCC.

Find more details from Medical News Today.

Post from: Blisstree

Firefighters and Bladder Cancer Risk

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.

Post from: Blisstree

Cancer Commentary Links 17-March-2008

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 evidence of the relationship between both diseases. Nevertheless, they warn that further research on this matter is needed, particularly in order rule out the assumption that this infection is only a viral colonization and does not cause cancer (that is to say, the tumor appeared before the tissue was infected by the virus).

HPV is very common and one can only be sure of not being exposed if they’re celibate.

I think this is when the mandatory HPV vaccination becomes important.

Find more details from the full report.

Post from: Blisstree

HPV May Cause Bladder Cancer

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 will also have the potential to detect cancer better and for monitoring bladder cancer through time.

Such a dipstick test is what researchers at the University of Florida with their colleagues at the University of Michigan are working on.

”…the scientists used advances in technology to isolate nearly 200 proteins from the urine of patients with and without bladder cancer. Several appear promising as potential biomarkers, including one that studies conducted elsewhere have already linked to liver and ovarian cancer.”

According to Steve Goodison, an associate professor of surgery at the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville:

“With any cancer, the earlier you find it the better because it’s not as aggressive in its early stages, and of course it’s much easier to remove any cancer anywhere in the body if you catch it while it’s relatively small.

What would really help in this disease would be a test you could use to monitor these patients just by monitoring their urine. If we could develop this test to try to narrow down those who’ve got infections versus something more serious, that would relieve the patient from pain and worry and (cut health-care costs).

The final aim would be to make a test cheap and convenient enough that you can start to think of screening people who don’t have any symptoms.”

Find more details from the full report.

Post from: Blisstree

Working Towards a “Dipstick” Test for Bladder Cancer

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 cancer.

Together with the company’s novel Ikoniscope® robotic digital microscopy platform, oncoFISH™ bladder enables automated testing of cells found in urine specimens to aid in the detection of bladder cancer.

According to Petros Tsipouras, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ikonisys:

“oncoFISH bladder is expected to significantly reduce the time required to process test results while improving the accuracy of bladder cancer diagnosis, and we are prepared for its immediate launch.

We believe the Ikoniscope and associated oncoFISH and fastFISH automated diagnostic applications are an economical and dependable solution to subjective sample analysis, protracted turnaround times for test results, and the acute laboratory shortage of trained technical personnel.”

Read the full press release.

Post from: Blisstree

oncoFISH™ Bladder: Ikonisys’ Automated Bladder Cancer Test, USFDA-Cleared for Marketing

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 research team notes that proepithelin might be used as a marker for bladder cancer.

Proepithelin is found in higher-than-normal levels in breast, ovarian and renal cancers, in addition to deadly brain cancers known as glioblastomas. It plays important roles in development, cell movement and tumor formation.

The research findings were reported July 15, 2006 in the journal Cancer Research.

Read more at Thomas Jefferson University.

Post from: Blisstree

Growth Factor Protein Proepithelin: Biomarker for Bladder Cancer, Potential Drug Target