Women’s Bladder Cancer Statistics

Did you know that blood in your urine could be very serious? It can be a symptom of multiple conditions, including bladder cancer.

 

Bladder Cancer in WOMEN: U.S. Incidence and Mortality

Recent data from the American Cancer Society show 2010 bladder cancer incidence and mortality in women, as compared to two commonly diagnosed gynecologic cancers:

 

 

Women’s Bladder Cancer Survival Rates Lower Than Men’s

When hematuria (blood in the urine) is mistaken by women as menstrual flow or post-menstrual spotting, or by physicians as cystitis or infection requiring a course of treatment with antibiotics, bladder cancer diagnosis might be delayed by months or longer. Delay can lead to poorer survival rates. African-American women in particular have poor survival rates, according to data from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER).

 

Earlier diagnosis of most types of cancer, including bladder cancer, can accelerate the application of appropriate therapies.

 

Three Sources, Three Key Messages

  • The American Cancer Society asserts that finding bladder cancer early “improves the chances that it can be treated with success.”
  • The website Cancer Survival Rates indicates that if bladder cancer is detected when the disease “is still localized, the overall 5 year survival rate for Bladder Cancer is 94%. Once the cancer spreads to the other pelvic organs, the 5 year survival rate drops to 49% and after it has spread to the other organs of the body to 6%.”
  • SEER statistics show that more men than women are diagnosed with bladder cancer. Yet the 5-year survival rate for women (78%) is equal to the 10-year survival rate for men, while the 10-year survival rate for women (69%) is equal to the 15-year survival rate for men.

 

Early Menopause a Risk Factor for Bladder Cancer

The Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN) reports that “Researchers have found that women who go through menopause at a younger age seem to be at greater risk of developing bladder cancer. The study, which was completed at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, analyzed more than 37,000 women between the ages of 55 and 69 from Iowa. The risk of bladder cancer was 32 percent higher for those women who reached menopause between the ages of 43 and 47, compared to those women who were above the age of 48 [at the onset of menopause].”

 

Additional Risk Factors, Per BCAN

  • Smoking
  • Use of dyes (including permanent hair coloring)
  • Exposure to chemicals
  • Race (Caucasians twice as likely to develop bladder cancer as African-Americans or Hispanics; lowest rate in Asians)
  • Advancing age
  • Drugs or radiation used to treat other cancers

 

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References Resources:

American Cancer Society www.cancer.org

Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network www.bcan.org

National Cancer Institute www.cancer.gov