does a urine sample show bladder cancer?
Sunday, November 29th, 2009 at
12:38 am
pitcher1990 asked:
i’ve had quite a few urine samples for something the doctors think was cystitis, but i personally think it could be something else, can the urine sample show bladder cancer or does it just show an infection?
i’ve had quite a few urine samples for something the doctors think was cystitis, but i personally think it could be something else, can the urine sample show bladder cancer or does it just show an infection?
Filed under: Bladder Cancer
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Your urine sample would need more analysis than normal to determine whether it shows bladder cancer (BCa): if there’s blood in it (presumably not obvious – known as frank haematuria; microscopically tho’ is poss) then that increases the likely hood of BCa. This can be easily checked.
If there is blood, then there needs to be cytoscopic (visual) examination (using a small-diameter tube with a light in it to look into the bladder via the uretha). A cytological exam could be done first – looking at the cells in the urine – but that’s not always conclusive either.
There are bladder cancer markers, again which assay the urine – FISH and NMP-22 (costing about $600 and $100 respectively).
Good luck.
It shows not only infection but, protein, blood, blood sugar levels, hcg levels, specific gravity and such but not cancer.
A Urinalysis is ordereed for general evaluation of health,
diagnosis of metabolic or systemic diseases that affect kidney function, and diagnosis of endocrine disorders, diagnosis of diseases or disorders of the kidneys or urinary tract monitoring of patients with diabetes, testing for pregnancy. and screening for drug abuse.
Urinalysis can show alot of things, much more than just an infection.
They will check for diabetes, protein, specific gravity, glucose, ketones, nitrite (that will show if there’s high bacteria), leukocyte esterase (elevated white blood cells), yeast, crystals, pH, hgb, liver functions, etc.
In addition, the number and types of cells (blood, red cells, white cells, calcium oxylate, etc.) in the urine can suggest specific diagnoses.
Urine tests are carried out for a variety of reasons, bacteria for Cystitis, sugar for diabetes , blood or protein in the urine etc.
The doctor would only find cancer of the bladder if he suspected it and was actively looking for it because he would have to look for cancer or pre-cancer cells under a microscope (Cytology).
There is no reason whatsoever that you can’t relay your fears to your doctor and ask him directly, even if it’s just to put your mind at rest.
Urine samples can show a lot of things not just infection. Malignant cells can be found in the urine, but it is not a reliable test for bladder cancer. However, it is not likely to have bladder cancer without blood in the urine.
You can certainly do cytology on urine, which is specifically looking at the cellular components in the urine. It will identify cancer cells, if present, in the hands of a competent cytopathologist. This would not be a test ordered routinely however. the routine tests show the items listed by the other posters.
Blessings