What Are Common Bladder Cancer Myths and Resolutions for Underrepresented Patients?
Dr. Randy Vince from University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center addresses and dispels four of the most common misconceptions: that bladder cancer only affects older adults, only smokers, or only men and that a diagnosis is always fatal. He also emphasizes the importance of education and early detection, and shares insights into risk factors and hereditary concerns. Learn more about Dr. Randy Vince.
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Transcript:
Lisa Hatfield:
Vince, what are some common myths about bladder cancer that people in underrepresented communities might believe, and how can we clear up these misunderstandings to help improve outcomes?
Dr. Randy Vince:
Yeah, so if it’s okay, I’m probably going to answer that question in reverse. And the reason why is because, again, I’m a big believer in education, education, education. So, whether it’s at a physician’s appointment or whether it’s at a local community group or, you know, attending a health talk that is local to you, really educating yourself about health conditions can lead to increased awareness, which can dispel a lot of these myths.
But in my experience, I would say there’s probably about four common myths that I’ve heard. The first one is only old people get bladder cancer, which is just simply not true. While it is more common for bladder cancer to be developed in older individuals, it can happen in the younger population as well. I personally treated people who are in their 30s and 40s for bladder cancer.
So again, it’s not a disease that only impacts elderly patients. The next thing that I’ve heard is that only smokers get bladder cancer. So, while it is a major risk factor, and I mean smoking is a major risk factor for bladder cancer, there are other environmental exposures that you can have, especially in the workplace, whether it’s chemicals or paints or plastics.
So, these can also increase the risk of developing bladder cancer. And there are other treatments for pelvic conditions. Specifically, I’m thinking of radiation that can have a delayed onset of bladder cancer in patients.
Thirdly, bladder cancer diagnosis is equal to death, and that’s just simply not the case. Like many cancers, we know that early detection is key because when we have early detection, our survival rates go up. We talked about non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer versus muscle-invasive bladder cancer. What we know is that five-year survival rates for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, which is an earlier diagnosis of earlier detection, five-year survival rates exceed 90 percent.
So again, cancer, bladder cancer diagnosis does not equal a death sentence. And then lastly, that only men get bladder cancer. Again, it’s more common in men, but women get bladder cancer as well. But the difference that we’ve seen is that women in minority communities are actually more likely to succumb to that bladder cancer diagnosis. Which again, just points to why that increased awareness is so important in early detection efforts remain critical.
Lisa Hatfield:
Okay, thank you. And I have one follow-up question to that. You talked about some risk factors for bladder cancer. Is there any type of genetic or hereditary component to bladder cancer?
Dr. Randy Vince:
Yeah. So, the vast majority of bladder cancers do not have an inherent genetic risk. There are some very rare bladder cancers that are associated with a genetic link. But for the vast majority of patients who develop bladder cancer, there is not a hereditary link to that.
