Last Updated on January 23, 2023 by Shabnam Sengupta
Bladder cancer is one of the ten most common cancer types globally. Nearly 600,000 people get diagnosed with bladder cancer every year. Here, we will learn what bladder cancer is and the association between cervical cancer and bladder cancer.
What is bladder cancer?
The bladder is a hollow bag-like muscular organ in your lower abdomen that stores urine produced from the kidneys until it is passed.
Bladder cancer is a common type of cancer that begins in the cells of the bladder. It then develops in the epithelial cell lining of the urinary bladder. Prolonged urine storage increases the risk of contact between the harmful substances in the urine and the inner bladder lining. This can lead to DNA changes and cancerous cell development if consistent over a very long period of time. Bladder cancer ranges from unaggressive and usually noninvasive tumours that reoccur to aggressive and invasive tumours with high mortality. The recurrence can put patients under long-term surveillance.
What is the association between cervical cancer and bladder cancer?
It is fairly common for cervical cancer to extend into the bladder at an advanced stage. This is because of the anatomical proximity of the uterine cervix and urinary bladder. Cervical cancers with bladder invasion (CCBI) are classified as stage IVA, according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). These types of cancer account for approximately 2% of cervical cancers. The prognosis is poor, and the 5-year survival rate is around 20%.
Pelvic irradiation for gynecologic malignancy is associated with several late neoplastic and nonneoplastic complications in the irradiated field. However, researchers found this association infrequently. Few cases of bladder cancer that developed pelvic irradiation for cervical cancer have been reported. Therefore, it is suggested that a cost-effective screening method should be used to help with the earlier detection of cancers.
Research studying bladder cancer in cancer patients observed that women affected by cervical cancer showed a large increase in their risk of bladder tumours. The reversed analyses suggested an important contribution of cervical cancer treatment. Treatment of cancers such as cervical cancers can potentially add to the risk for subsequent development of bladder cancers.
Surprisingly, the common link is smoking. It puts a patient at the risk of cervical cancer. It is proven that some cervical cancers are probably related to tobacco smoking. Similarly, 20% to 30% of bladder cancer cases in women were caused by smoking proving cigarette smokers have a higher risk of bladder cancer.
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