Marriage tied to better bladder cancer survival
The support of a spouse may help Bladder cancer patients live longer lives, new research suggests.
The study, of nearly 6,000 Americans with Bladder cancer, found that those who were married had better survival rates than single patients. The apparent marriage benefit remained even when the researchers factored in patients’ age, race and severity of their cancer.
Some past studies have linked marriage to better survival in certain cancers that can be caught early through screening and have relatively good survival rates - such as breast and prostate cancers.
The new findings show the same may be true of a type of cancer that’s more difficult to spot and more aggressive, according to the study authors, led by Dr. John L. Gore of the University of California, Los Angeles.
The researchers used data from a national cancer registry to follow 5,854 men and women treated for Bladder cancer between 1983 and 2000. After more than 3 years of follow-up, about half were still alive, with married patients having the best survival odds, the team reports their in the journal Cancer.
Bladder cancer is a malignant tumor growth within the bladder. Bladder cancers usually arise from the transitional cells of the bladder (the cells lining the bladder).
These tumors may be classified based on their growth pattern as either papillary tumors (meaning they have a wart-like lesion attached to a stalk) or nonpapillary tumors. Nonpapillary tumors are much less common, but they are more invasive and have a poorer prognosis.
Compared with their married peers, single patients were 26 percent more likely to die during the study period - even when weighing factors such as age and cancer stage at diagnosis.
Widowed patients also showed poorer survival, but this was mainly explained by their older age, the researchers found. There was some sign that divorced and separated patients had lower survival odds than their married counterparts, but the difference between the two groups was not significant in statistical terms.
About one in four cases of bladder cancer can be attributed to workplace exposure to carcinogens. Arylamines are a group of chemicals most responsible. Dye workers, rubber workers, aluminum workers, leather workers, truck drivers, and pesticide applicators are at the highest risk, although arylamines have been reduced or eliminated in many workplaces.
The association between artificial sweeteners and bladder cancer has been studied and is weak or non-existent.
For more information check Bladder cancer
The reason for the marriage advantage, according to Gore’s team, is unknown, but there are several potential explanations.
Spouses may, for example, urge their husband or wife to see a doctor when early cancer symptoms first arise. They may also help them change unhealthy behaviors after their cancer has been diagnosed - helping them, for instance, quit smoking, which is a major risk factor for Bladder cancer.
It’s also possible that the support of a spouse affects a patient’s immune defenses, according to the researchers. A study of Breast cancer patients, they note, found that those who were either married or felt they had strong support from family and friends had greater activity in certain immune system cells that help destroy tumor cells.
SOURCE: Cancer, September 15, 2005.
Revision date: June 18, 2011
Last revised: by Jorge P. Ribeiro, MD