How is bladder cancer diagnosed?
If there is a reason to suspect you might have bladder cancer, the doctor will use one or more methods to find out if this disease is really present. If it is, then the extent of spread (stage) of the disease will also be determined. Signs and symptoms of bladder cancer Blood in the urine In most cases, blood in the urine (hematuria) is the first warning signal of bladder cancer. Sometimes, there is enough blood to change the color of the urine. Depending on the amount of blood, the urine may be very pale yellow-red or, less often, darker red. In other cases, the color of the urine is normal but small amounts of blood can be found by urine tests done because of other symptoms or as part of a general medical checkup. Blood in the urine does not mean you have bladder cancer. Much more often it is caused by other things, such as infection, benign tumors, stones in the kidney or bladder, or other benign kidney diseases. Blood may be present one day and absent the next, with the urine remai
A. First, a urine sample is taken and sent for analysis, too see if any abnormal cells can be found in it. The next test is usually cytoscopy: under local anaesthetic a thin flexible tube is passed up the urethra (the tube that carries the urine out) and into the bladder. Fibre-optics in the tube allow the doctor to inspect the inside of the bladder. In some cases, X-rays and blood tests may also be required.
