Bladder cancer affects the elderly predominantly. It has a completely different history with younger patients. Research has shown that bladder cancer affects men four times more than females across the world. When it comes to its causes, there is evidence that smoking and exposure to chemicals in industries are responsible for the risk of bladder cancer more in men over women.
Dr. Paolo Boffetta – A global expert in cancer epidemiology and research
Bladder cancer has been a subject of interest and studies for many years. Doctors and medical researchers in the field of cancer epidemiology are delving deep into the subject to discover prevention strategies and treatment methods to offer relief to patients who succumb to it. Dr. Paolo Boffetta is a widely respected and esteemed name in cancer epidemiology from Turin, Italy.
He presently stays in New York in the USA. In 2010, he joined Mount Sinai School of Medicine and is currently the Director of the Institute for Translational Epidemiology and Associate Director for Population Sciences at The Tisch Cancer Institute. He also holds the post of Bluhdorn Professor of International Community Medicine and in the past has been associated with The American Cancer Society in New York, Columbia University in New York, the International Agency for Research on Cancer at Lyon in France, and the German Cancer Research Center at Heidelberg, Germany.
His list of credentials does not end here as he is also the Adjunct Professor at the Department of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University at Nashville in Tennessee, Harvard School of Public Health at Boston in Massachusetts, and a visiting Professor at the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology (University of Turin, Italy). Besides the above, he is a Senior Fellow of the Hellenic Health Foundation located at Athens in Greece and is the holder of many prestigious other designations with esteemed medical bodies across the world.
Smoking is a potential cause of bladder cancer
He says that cigarette smoking is one of the primary causes of this type of cancer when it comes to bladder cancer. There have been valid observations where smoking has been the cause of almost 25% to 60% of bladder cancer cases in industrialized nations. Smoking actually has an effect on the development of the squamous cell, transitional cell, and the sub-types of adenocarcinoma histologic in this type of cancer.
Bladder cancer and occupational exposure
Studies and research have claimed that occupational exposure to leather, rubber, paint, leather, petroleum, and other industries dealing with chemicals trigger the risks of developing cancer in the bladder.
Infections can cause bladder cancer
There are specific infections like Schistosoma haematobium coupled with a long-term inflammatory response that can cause bladder cancer, especially squamous cell carcinoma.
Dr. Paolo Boffetta adds that exposure to drugs for antineoplastic cyclophosphamide like Neosar and Cytoxan can predispose a person to cancer of the bladder. Again, the association between cancer of the bladder and artificial sweeteners like saccharin and cyclamate has been received by animal studies; however, they have not been established by human findings and data. Research is being conducted in the field, and results of the above associated are still awaited.
