The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) will mark Bladder Cancer Awareness Month throughout May by highlighting IARC research on the prevention and detection of this disease. Every year, almost 600 000 people worldwide are diagnosed with bladder cancer. It is a complex and highly recurrent disease and is one of the most challenging and expensive cancer types to diagnose and treat.
IARC scientists are working on various projects in this area, including the development of a simple urine test with the potential to significantly improve early detection of bladder cancer. The test is based on the detection of mutations in the promoter of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene, which are the most common mutations in bladder cancer. The ability of the test to detect these TERT promoter mutations in urine samples up to 10 years before clinical diagnosis of bladder cancer could lead to a powerful non-invasive tool for the early detection of this disease. The test also offers potential for the cost-effective screening of individuals who are at high risk of developing bladder cancer, including smokers and workers exposed to bladder carcinogens.
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