Causes and risk factors
Common risk factors for developing bladder cancer include smoking, exposure to certain chemicals in the workplace, a history of radiation therapy, and a personal or family history of bladder cancer.
– Modifyable risk factors
We call modifyable risk factors to those that can be changed by you or your doctor. These include smoking, alcohol use, and radiation therapy in the abdomen. You can change some of them by a modification in your lifestyle. Others can be prevented in advance.
Smoking is a risk factor because tobacco smoke has many carcinogens that can potentially trigger inflammation or tumor growth. The same happens if you’re exposed to toxins and harmful chemicals with potential carcinogenic activity.
– Non-modifyable risk factors
This is a type of risk factor you can do nothing about. It might be something you’re born with or something in your family history. For example, if you have bladder cancer running in your family, the risk of this disease is higher in your case than the rest of the population. Males are more likely than females to have bladder cancer, and that’s also a non-modifyable risk factor.
Another risk factor you might not be able to change is being diagnosed with interstitial cystitis or another disease that features chronic inflammation in your bladder. Together these risk factors increase the chance of experiencing this problem in the future.
