How to diagnose bladder cancer? i have blood in my urine. can a urine test show if i have bladder cancer? do other signs of bladder cancer show up in urine, like maybe cancer cells?

Blood : Blood in your urine, known as hematuria, can be either gross (visible to the naked eye) or microscopic (invisible to the naked eye, thus found only upon testing or urinalysis). Bladder & kidney infections can cause hematuria. So can kidney stones. However, these three possibilities are typically associated w/discomfort & pain. Painless hematuria is more worrisome for bladder cancer, especially in smokers and those exposed to (carcinogenic) chemicals at work. The diagnosis can be made by your family physician via urine testing, either cytology (looking for cancer cells) or bard bta (looking for tumor antigen). If both of those tests are negative but the reason for the painless hematuria remains elusive, then a cystoscopy (visual examination of your bladder via a small camera inside a tube via your urethra) can be performed by a urologist. Biopsies can be taken at this time to determine the nature and extent of the cancer. Sometimes, other tests will be performed looking to see if there's disease anywhere else. For instance, an intravenous pyelogram will allow us to visualize your kidneys & ureters, in addition to the bladder. An abdominal and/or pelvic ct will allow us to visualize any adjacent structures for spread.

Bladder cancer: The definitive test remains cystoscopy. This must be performed by a qualified urologist. It can, however, usually be performed in the office.