Getting checked for bladder cancer

Getting checked - what's involved?

The doctor or nurse practitioner will listen carefully to what you’ve noticed and ask some questions about your symptoms such as:

  • Is it painful to pass urine?
  • How frequently are you going to toilet?  Do you feel an urgency to pass urine
  • Do you have other symptoms like fever, vomiting or kidney pain?
  • They will also check any relevant medical background such as kidney stones or kidney or bladder cancers.

During a face-to-face appointment, a doctor will usually go on to examine your abdomen. They may also take your blood pressure and ask for blood and urine samples.  Further examinations maybe required depending on your symptoms.

You will be referred to your local hospital if further tests, scans or examinations are required.

FACTS

  • Nearly 1700 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year in Scotland.
  • The majority of people diagnosed with bladder cancer are over 60 years old.
  • Around 50% of bladder cancer cases are preventable.