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Silent Cancer's Sneaky Symptoms Mimic UTIs
23 Nov
Summary
- Bladder cancer is the 11th most common cancer in the UK.
- Around 10,300 new cases are diagnosed in the UK annually.
- Blood in urine and urgency to urinate are common symptoms.
Bladder cancer, often termed 'silent,' frequently presents with symptoms that mimic less serious conditions such as urinary tract infections (UTIs). This makes early detection challenging, as individuals may overlook critical warning signs. The disease develops when abnormal tissue growth forms a tumour in the bladder lining, and unfortunately, it often advances before noticeable symptoms appear.
In the UK, bladder cancer ranks as the 11th most common cancer, with Cancer Research figures indicating approximately 10,300 new diagnoses annually. This rate translates to over one new case every hour. The most prevalent symptom, blood in urine, can also be indicative of a UTI, a common ailment affecting many.
Further complicating matters, other warning signs like an urgent and persistent need to urinate, accompanied by sharp pain, also overlap significantly with UTI symptoms. This overlap can lead people to dismiss potential bladder cancer indicators as a mere infection, allowing the more serious condition to go undetected until it has progressed further.
