Khaberni - Scientists may be on the brink of a medical breakthrough in understanding the reasons behind the rising cases of bladder cancer in men. A research team from Spain and the United States discovered that male bladder cells are more prone to selective growth of dangerous mutations even before the disease develops.
Research has long indicated that bladder cancer is up to four times more common among men.
According to "Daily Mail", scientists found mutations in genes linked to cancer in men that have an "evolutionary advantage", making cell clusters more prone to proliferation.
The experts confirmed, after analyzing samples from 45 healthy bladders and the same number from patients, that these findings are significant and pave the way for early detection tools to identify cancer in its early stages.
Dr. Lopez Rigas, a biologist at the Biomedical Research Institute in Barcelona, said: "Many mutations accumulate in healthy tissues throughout a lifetime. But what matters is not just the number of cells, but also which of them outcompete the others and grow to become clones, copies of the same cell carrying the same mutations."
The study showed that the early stages of cancer development are indeed influenced by gender-specific factors.
Discovery of Rare Mutations
In the study, researchers used a highly sensitive sequencing method capable of detecting rare mutations that standard genomic tools overlook.
They found that some mutations were much more likely in male bladder samples.
This was the first time such effects were directly observed in healthy bladder tissues instead of tumors, shedding light on the early stages of cancer development, they said.
In addition to blood in the urine, symptoms of bladder cancer include frequent urination and pain, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, urinary incontinence, and abdominal pain.
