Smoking/bladder cancer link not realized

ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 9 (UPI) -- Cigarette smoking accounts for up to half of all bladder cancer cases, but few people are aware of the connection, U.S. researchers said.

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers said three-quarters of patients who have bladder cancer are not aware of the smoking/bladder cancer connection.

"The general public understands that cigarette smoking can lead to lung cancer, but very few people understand that it also can lead to bladder cancer," senior author Dr. James E. Montie of the University of Michigan Health System said in a statement.

The study, published in The Journal of Urology, found most patients who already had bladder cancer were, like the general public, unaware of the link between smoking and bladder cancer.

Montie noted that in the first four years after a smoker quits, the risk of developing bladder cancer decreases by 40 percent.

"A big gap exists between patient knowledge and their actual risk," lead author Dr. Seth A. Strope said. "Our study suggests that physicians must do a much better job of communicating the risk to our patients, and directing them toward smoking cessation programs."