Urological Cancers: Early Detection, Symptoms, and Risk Factors
Malignancies of the Waterworks of our body imply cancers of the Urological System – viz: Kidneys, Bladder, Prostate, Penis & Testis.
Cancers of the Kidneys and Bladder occur in Men and Women, while Prostate, Penile, and Testicular cancers are specific to men. These cancers may be linked to environmental, lifestyle, genetic, and other factors. However, most urological cancers can be picked up early while they are still organ-confined, thus improving outcomes.
Let us see each cancer one by one:
Kidney (Renal) Cancer:
What is kidney cancer?
Kidney cancer is a malignant growth (a tumour) in the kidneys. Its medical name is renal cell carcinoma. A tumour in the kidney can also be benign (non-cancerous).
What are the symptoms of kidney cancer?
Kidney cancer usually does not present with any symptoms.
Most kidney tumours are found during a routine ultrasound or a similar imaging procedure for other conditions.
About 1 in 10 people experience symptoms like pain on one side of the body, abdominal lump, or blood in the urine. Further investigations will reveal the exact nature of the disease.
Urinary Bladder Cancer:
What is bladder cancer?
Bladder cancer is abnormal tissue growth (tumour) within the urinary bladder.
What are the risk factors for bladder cancer?
Bladder cancer develops slowly and is more common among the elderly (age 60 and older).
Long-term tobacco consumption, in any form, is the main culprit for nearly half of bladder cancer cases.
Occupational exposure to chemicals in producing paint, dye, metal, and petroleum is also a risk, although workplace safety guidelines have helped reduce this.
What are the signs and symptoms?
Blood in the urine is the most common symptom when a bladder tumour is present. Lower urinary tract symptoms, such as frequency of urination and urge to urinate, may also be present.
Symptoms like pelvic pain, pain in the flank, weight loss, or the feeling of a mass in the lower abdomen may be present in cases when tumours are more advanced.
Prostate Cancer:
What is the prostate gland?
The prostate is a small gland that forms part of a man’s reproductive system. It is about the size of a golf ball and surrounds the tube that empties urine from the bladder, called the urethra.
It is normal for the prostate to swell/enlarge as a man gets older, but if the swelling gets too big, it can block the urethra, making it difficult to pass urine. This is called benign prostate enlargement or BPE/BPH and this is not cancer.
In most cases, BPE is not a serious health concern but a treatable condition.
What does the prostate do?
The prostate makes a thick white fluid that mixes with the sperm from your testicles to make semen. It also produces a protein called prostate-specific antigen or PSA. PSA helps reduce the thickness of semen, so it is thinner and more fluid.
What causes prostate cancer?
The exact cause of prostate cancer is unknown.
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer may cause no signs or symptoms in its early stages- and is usually picked up via an elevated PSA. (Prostate Specific Antigen-blood test).
More advanced prostate cancer may cause signs and symptoms, such as:
- difficulty in passing urine
- a less powerful stream of urine
- blood in the urine
- blood in the semen
- bone pain (commonly in the back)
- losing weight without trying
- problems controlling bowel movements
- erection problems called erectile dysfunction
Penile cancer:
What is penile cancer?
Cancer is abnormal cell growth in the skin or organ tissue. When this cell growth starts in the penis, it is called penis cancer or penile cancer.
It is more common in men older than 40, but younger men can get it.
What causes penile cancer?
The etiology of penile cancer is multifactorial with many risk factors identified viz. phimosis, poor hygiene, smoking, and chronic inflammatory states such as balanitis xerotica obliterans(BXO).
Other risk factors for penile cancer include an increasing number of sexual partners or a history of genital warts or other sexually transmitted diseases. In particular, infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) has been linked to penile cancer although exact pathways have not been fully elucidated to date.
What are the signs/symptoms?
Penis cancer usually appears on the penis skin. It can look like a rash, sore, or small nodule that doesn’t heal. You might notice bleeding or a bad smell.
If you have a foreskin, it might change in appearance or may have become too tight to pull back.
Testicular Cancer:
What is testicular cancer?
The testicles (also called the “testes”) are part of the male reproductive system, found in the scrotum—the pouch of skin that hangs below the penis. Testicular cancer or malignancy of one or both testes may occur in the younger age group, as well as between 20-40 years of age.
What are the causes of testicular cancer?
The exact cause is unknown, but certain risk factors may increase the likelihood of developing it:
Family history: Having a close relative with testicular cancer or an undescended testicle increases your risk. For example, if your father had testicular cancer, your risk is about four times higher than someone without a family history.
Undescended testicles: Also known as cryptorchidism, this is the most significant risk factor for testicular cancer.
About 3–5% of boys are born with undescended testicles, which usually descend into the scrotum during the first year.
What are the symptoms of testicular cancer?
As testicular cancer grows, you might feel a lump or swelling in part of one testicle. This is the most common symptom. You might -very rarely- have pain in a testicle or the scrotum, but testicular cancer is not usually painful.
