A report investigating the financial and legal impact of cancer in Victoria has found both patients and carers have significant out-of-pocket costs.<\/p>\n
“I’d have a seven-day lot of antibiotics, and I’d be good for six or seven weeks and then I’d start to get symptoms again,” she said.<\/p>\n
By the time she was finally diagnosed in March 2024, Ms Harris’s cancer had advanced to stage three.<\/p>\n
In Australia, three in four people diagnosed with bladder cancer<\/a> are men, but experts are concerned about the number of women, like Ms Harris, presenting with late-stage bladder cancer.<\/p>\n Alison Zhang, a medical oncologist at Macquarie University Hospital, said although bladder cancer symptoms, like blood in the urine and a frequent need to wee, were similar in both sexes, they were easy to misdiagnose as urinary tract infections (UTIs) or perimenopause in women.<\/p>\n Alison Zhang wants to improve outcomes for women diagnosed with bladder cancer. (Supplied: Alison Zhang)<\/p>\n Bladder cancer in Australia<\/p>\n About 3,345 cases of bladder cancer were estimated to be diagnosed in Australia last year.<\/p>\n But unlike most other cancers, the five-year survival rate has dropped since 1987.\u00a0<\/p>\n Women diagnosed with bladder cancer in Australia face about a 50 per cent chance of living five years post-diagnosis, while men have an almost 60 per cent chance.<\/p>\n “Women tend to present later with later-stage disease, which is a real problem,” Dr Zhang said.<\/p>\n Magdalena Simonis, a practising GP and women’s health expert from the University of Melbourne, said men often had their bladder cancer symptoms \u2014 especially blood in the urine \u2014 escalated quickly as UTIs were far less common in men, and therefore unlikely to be the cause.<\/p>\n “If a man shows up with microscopic, that is, invisible blood in the urine, or visible blood in the urine, we would immediately advance that person to further investigations,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “When a woman presents with the symptoms of bladder cancer, the symptoms are not dissimilar to those of a UTI; they might have a burning sensation with urination or blood in their urine.”<\/p>\n Christine La Rose, a patient and support lead for advocacy group BEAT Bladder Cancer Australia, said there needed to be “more focus, more urgency and awareness” on improving outcomes for women.<\/p>\n An otherwise fit and healthy Christine La Rose was shocked to be diagnosed with bladder cancer at 49. (Supplied: Christine La Rose)<\/p>\n Ms La Rose, a bladder cancer survivor herself, faced a short diagnostic delay after initially being told the blood in her urine had been caused by a UTI.<\/p>\n “Blood in the urine should never be ignored; it should always be investigated,” she said.<\/p>\n![\"Alison](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/e6fa6a044eaf2f44a4215a048a1bd33e.jpeg\")
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