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Friday, July 15, 2011

Bladder Cancer Survival Rates - Know Your Chances By Stage

Like many cancer cases of any types, the bladder cancer survival rate is relatively higher if the patient is treated and cured at the earliest stage of the disease. As the disease progresses and the cancer cells have penetrated a larger portion of your bladder, prognosis goes down to the drain as well. By stage 4 of the disease, your bladder cancer survival rate may still be too low despite adequate treatment regimen and successful surgeries.

By definition, bladder cancer is the type of cancer in your urinary bladed affecting more than 70,000 lives in the US. Each year, bladder cancer takes about 14,000 American lives. The good thing is, this cancer is amongst those types of cancer that are easily detected at the early stages so there are more chances of curing it before it worsens. The signs and symptoms of this cancer may already be felt at its early stage that is why more people are able to seek medical advice and get properly screened and diagnosed of the disease. But more than ever, it is the early treatment that really influences the patient's bladder cancer survival rate.

According to a report released by the National Cancer Institute, SEER Data Base for the year 1988-2001, patients are likely to live up to 5 years or more than that if cure has been given while the cancer is at its first stage, which is Stage 0. The survival rate at this stage is up to 98%, which is slightly higher than most cancers at the same stage. However, similar to other cancer cases and despite the fact that this cancer is an easily-detected cancer, not all patients are able to see the symptoms as early as stage 0. Therefore, not all patients are given the chance for an early treatment.

At stage 1 (which is actually the second stage of bladder cancer), your rate of surviving may be down to 10 percent lower from the first stage. If the spread of your cancer at this stage has not reached maximum yet proper treatment has already been started, your bladder cancer survival rate may slightly go up to 92%.

Stage 2 and stage 3 are the stages where there is an increase proliferation rate and your cancer cells may eat up your healthy cells faster than they do on the previous stages. Therefore, the rate of surviving may be substantially decreased. From the same report by the National Cancer Institute, your survival rate is around 63% for stage 2 and 46% on stage 3 even with treatment.

Stage 4 is where the cancer metastasize and may affect surround vital organs like the ovaries, reproductive system, kidneys, pelvic bones, etc. In some cases, the coccyx or the bottommost part of your spinal cord may also be affected, leading to severe nervous function on those parts. Survival rate at this stage is around 15-20 percent.

Find more information about bladder cancer survival rates and see what other patients feel about the disease at Cancer Survival Rates.


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