About half of bladder cancer cases in women age 50 and older are now traceable to smoking, up from 20 or 30 percent in earlier decades, researchers report.

It is estimated that 69,250 men and women (52,020 men and 17,230 women) will be diagnosed with and 14,990 men and women will die of cancer of the urinary bladder in 2011
Bladder Cancer Prognosis

Researchers from the University of Michigan recently reported that women who go to their primary care physician
with a new or recurrent episode of blood in their urine are less likely to be referred to an urologist for further
examination than are men.  They believe that this may contribute to the fact that women with bladder cancer are
being diagnosed at more advanced stages, when their chances for survival are markedly decreased.

According to a report published by the National Cancer Institute, the survival rate for women with bladder cancer lags behind that of men at all stages of the disease. African-American women, particularly have poor outcomes when diagnosed with bladder cancer. They present with the highest proportion of advanced and aggressive tumors when compared to African-American men and Caucasian men and women. In addition, the number of women diagnosed with bladder cancer has been increasing.

The five-year survival rate is the percentage of people who survive at least five years after the cancer is detected, excluding those who die from other diseases. This rate depends on many factors, including the stage of bladder cancer that is diagnosed. For people with non-muscle-invasive/superficial urothelial carcinoma, the five-year survival rate is 97%. About half of people are diagnosed with this stage. If the tumor is invasive but has not yet spread outside the bladder, the five-year survival rate is 73%. If the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or nearby organs, the five-year survival rate is 36%. If the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, the five-year survival rate is 6%.

What are the key statistics about bladder cancer?

The American Cancer Society’s most recent estimates for bladder cancer in the United States are for 2012:

• About 73,510 new cases of bladder cancer diagnosed (about 55,600 in men and 17,910 in women).
• About 14,880 deaths from bladder cancer (about 10,510 in men and 4,370 in women).

The rates of new cancers and of cancer deaths have been fairly stable over the past 20 years. More than 500,000 people in the United States are survivors of this cancer.

Bladder cancer occurs mainly in older people. About 9 out of 10 people with this cancer are over the age of 55. The average age at the time of diagnosis is 73.

Men are about 3 times more likely to get bladder cancer during their lifetime than women. Overall, the chance men will develop this cancer during their life is about 1 in 26. For women, the chance is about 1 in 86. (The risk for a particular person may be higher or lower, based on risk factors such as whether or not they smoke.) Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in men.

Whites are diagnosed with bladder cancer almost twice as often as blacks. Hispanics have an even lower rate than blacks.

In about half of all cases, patients are first diagnosed with bladder cancer while it is still confined to the inner layer of the bladder (non-invasive or in situ cancer). About 35% have bladder cancer that has invaded into deeper layers but is still contained in the bladder. In most of the remaining cases, the cancer has spread to nearby tissues outside the bladder. Rarely (in about 4% of cases), it has spread to distant sites. Black patients are slightly more likely to have more advanced disease when they are diagnosed, compared to whites.

Source:  cancer.org/

Resources:

http://www.cancer.net/patient/Cancer+Types/Bladder+Cancer?sectionTitle=Statistics

http://www.medicinenet.com/bladder_cancer/article.htm

http://www.videojug.com/interview/bladder-cancer-prognosis-2

http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BladderCancer/DetailedGuide/bladder-cancer-key-statistics

http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/urinb.html

Tags: Bladder Cancer in women

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