A new step forward for early detection of bladder cancer

When it comes to taking people's lives, bladder cancer is far behind lung, breast or colon cancer. Nevertheless, this condition appears in about 50,000 people a year, killing about 11,000 of them. Even though microscopic analysis of urine can reveal blood which can signify bladder or kidney cancer, this is not always the case since this blood can be present due to medications, bladder or prostate infection, extreme exercising, menstruation, sexual activity etc.Noticing Bladder Cancer

Apart from the ambiguous nature of blood tests mentioned above, bladder cancer may not be bleeding on the day of our test, creating results which tell us that everything is fine. Moreover, aggressive bladder cancer types tend to usually go unnoticed on these tests, appearing later through excessive concentration of blood in the urine.

Therefore, cytology testing is often offered to the patients, since here, an expert can analyze urine samples further, searching for bladder cancer cells or any other signs of this condition. This is an excellent method which allows premature diagnosis of bladder or kidney cancer. Yet, about half of tumorous cells go unnoticed during these tests. Thus, cytology too has flaws.

UroVysion Testing

UroVysion is a system of high-tech probes which screen patients for bladder cancer. This method is claimed to be capable of noticing this cancer earlier than any other methods can.

The most positive aspect of this type of testing is the power of UroVysion to show only real signs of bladder cancer, apart from urine blood tests which can often give false results. This method is very sensitive to presence of bladder cancer and, therefore, there is a high likelihood that this condition will be noticed.

Basically, this system's functioning is based on the fact the bladder cancer cells, which are expelled in the urine, have undergone up to four genetic changes in their chromosomes. Thus, special DNA probes, when exposed to these cells, stick to them, exposing them. Once this DNA probe gets connected to the cancerous material, exposure to ultraviolet rays will reveal the signs of bladder cancer.

The main and only drawback of UroVysion is its price, ranging from $250 to $400. Since these testings are preventive per se, many people undergo them only to find out that they do not have cancer. For this reason, insurance companies usually do not provide coverage for this type of testing.

All in all, bladder cancer can be detected in its early stage. However, the price of an effective test is a bit high. On the other hand, health is priceless and no money can worth more than the knowing that you are healthy.