Bladder cancer-in situ

Dear Ask The Doctor: If you have bladder cancer-in situ, would urine cytology and biopsies prove positive for cancer? Does bladder carcinoma in situ appear as a small red irritation?

Dear RoseAnn: Urine cytology is not a fool-proof method for detecting cancer and may or may not yeild cancer cells in in-situ or invasive cancer. A biopsy is the best method of diagnosing cancer in any stage or form. In diagnosing cancer of the bladder the doctor must suspect the possibility of cancer in a specific region of the bladder and obtain the biopsy from that region. It is impractical to biopsy to entire bladder! Thus there is the chance, albeit small, that a negative biopsy is obtained if the wrong area is biopsied.

Bladder cancer can have varying appearances including an inflammed area, a small tumor or out-growth or a hemorrhagic appearance.