Tom Wilemon

twilemon@tennessean.com

A study by Vanderbilt University researchers offers a clue as to why bladder cancer is more deadly for women than men.

The researchers found that only 17 percent of females who had blood in their urine were referred to a urologist by their doctors, while 39 percent of men received followup attention by the specialist.

Urologists Jeffrey Bassett and Daniel Barocas presented their findings this month at the annual conference of the American Urological Association in Orlando, Fla.

Vanderbilt researchers reviewed the medical records of a random sample of 9,211 Medicare beneficiaries who had blood in their urine between January 2009 and June 2010. They then looked to see how many men were referred to a urologist within 180 days versus the number of women.

Although blood in the urine is an indicator of bladder cancer, doctors may attribute the cause in women to a urinary tract infection.

“There is good evidence to demonstrate that women are more likely to be treated with antibiotics multiple times before being diagnosed with bladder cancer compared to men, and this results in more advanced disease at the time of diagnosis,” Barocas said.

Women are about 20 percent more likely than men to have advanced bladder cancer when they see a urologist, he said. Their five-year survival rate is 73.1 percent compared to 79.5 percent for men.

The research was funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Reach Tom Wilemon at 615-726-5961 and on Twitter @TomWilemon.