Karen Greene, bladder cancer survivor.
Wat to do:
Don’t Smoke If you smoke, here’s yet another reason to quit, adds Fenner. “Fifty percent of bladder cancer cases are linked to smoking, which is the No. 1 risk factor.” Secondhand smoke may have played a role in Greene’s case, because she was exposed to it both in her home (her husband smoked cigars) and worked for several years at a psychiatric hospital where the patients were permitted to smoke during therapy sessions. Carcinogens from tobacco fumes travel through the lungs to the bloodstream, then are flushed into the urine through the kidneys. Occupational exposure to toxic chemicals, such as pesticides, arsenic, and certain types of dye, also increases risk, as does a family history of bladder cancer.
28 pause FALL / WINTER 2011
Don’t Ignore Bleeding Symptoms Why do women have lower survival rates? Often, they’re diagnosed at a later stage of the disease, when it’s harder to treat. In Greene’s case, the cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes, meaning that she had stage IV cancer, the most advanced stage. “Unfortunately, her story is a scenario that’s more common than it should be for women,” says Fenner. “Seeing blood in the toilet or on toilet paper is the leading symptom of bladder cancer in both men and women, seen in 80 to 90 percent of patients. However, it can be more difficult to figure out where the bleeding is coming from in a woman because the source could be the uterus, cervix, vagina, bladder, or the rectum.”
Dominique Ghossein
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