Urinary bladder cancer

Cancer in the urinary bladder is the sixth most common form of cancer in Sweden and each year about 2000 people are diagnosed, and about 600 die from their disease. The mean age of patients diagnosed with urinary bladder cancer is 70 years, and 75% of the patients are male.

At time of diagnosis, 20-30% of the patients have a muscle invasive tumor and the recommended treatment for these patients is a radical cystectomy, a surgery where the urinary bladder is removed. This is a very extensive surgery and the frequency for complications is about 20-30% and the 30-days mortality is 1-4%. The treatment and follow-up of patients with urinary bladder cancer requires huge resources. It has been estimated that the medical costs for urinary bladder cancer patients exceeds those for prostate cancer patients, even though the latter is four times as common.

The research conducted on urinary bladder cancer in the research environment for Urological cancer focuses on both the initiation and progression of the disease.