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Bladder Cancer Center - Ankeny, IA

Ankeny Oncologist Doctors for Bladder Cancer

Type of Physician: Oncologist

What is a Oncologist?

A subspecialty certification by the Board of Internal Medicine; the oncologist specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of all types of cancer and other benign and malignant tumors. These subspecialists decide on and administer chemotherapy as well as consult with surgeons and radiotherapists on other treatment for cancer.

Specialty: Oncology (Medical)

Common Name: Cancer Doctor

Oncologist Doctors in Ankeny *

Mercy Medical Center
Jan Franko
1111 6th Ave
Des Moines, IA 50314
(515) 643-2084

Medical Oncology & Hematology Associates
Angela E Sandre
411 Laurel St
STE 300 A
Des Moines, IA 50314
(515) 247-3970

McFarland Clinic Oncology
Debra M Prow
1215 Duff Ave
William R Bliss Cancer Ctr
Ames, IA 50010
(515) 239-4401

Ankeny, Iowa

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Bladder Cancer

The bladder

Your bladder is a hollow organ in the lower abdomen. It stores urine, the liquid waste made by the kidneys.

Your bladder is part of the urinary tract. Urine passes from each kidney into the bladder through a long tube called a ureter. Urine leaves the bladder through a shorter tube (the urethra).

The wall of the bladder has layers of tissue:

  • Inner layer: The inner layer of tissue is also called the lining. As your bladder fills up with urine, the transitional cells on the surface stretch. When you empty your bladder, these cells shrink.
  • Middle layer: The middle layer is muscle tissue. When you empty your bladder, the muscle layer in the bladder wall squeezes the urine out of your body.
  • Outer layer: The outer layer covers the bladder. It has fat, fibrous tissue, and blood vessels.

Cancer Cells

Cancer begins in cells, the building blocks that make up tissues. Tissues make up the bladder and the other organs of the body.

Normal cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When normal cells grow old or get damaged, they die, and new cells take their place.

Sometimes, this process goes wrong. New cells form when the body doesn't need them, and old or damaged cells don't die as they should. The buildup of extra cells often forms a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor.

Tumors in the bladder can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer). Benign tumors are not as harmful as malignant tumors:

  • Benign tumors:

    • are usually not a threat to life
    • can be treated or removed and usually don't grow back
    • don't invade the tissues around them
    • don't spread to other parts of the body.
  • Malignant growths:

    • may be a...

Recommended Reading Related to Bladder Cancer

Cancer »

What is cancer?

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells anywhere in a body. The abnormal cells are termed cancer cells, malignant cells, or tumor cells. Many cancers and the abnormal cells that compose the cancer tissue are further identified by the name of the tissue that the abnormal cells originated from (for example, breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer). Cancer is not confined to humans; animals and other living organisms can get cancer. Below is a schematic that shows normal cell division and how when a cell is damaged or altered without repair to its system, the cell usually dies. Also shown is what can occur when such damaged or unrepaired cells do not die and become cancer cells and proliferate with uncontrolled growth; a mass of cancer cells develop. Frequently, cancer cells can break away from this original mass of cells, travel through the blood and lymph systems, and lodge in other organs where they can again repeat the ...

Emergency Contact for Ankeny

  • In case of Emergency, call 911

Nearby Ankeny Hospitals *

VA Central Iowa Health Care Des Moines
3600 30th St
Des Moines, IA 50310
(515)699-5999

Broadlawns Medical Center
1801 Hickman Rd
Des Moines, IA 50314
(515)282-2200

Iowa Lutheran Hospital
700 E University Ave
Des Moines, IA 50316
(515)263-5612

Mercy Franklin Center
1818 48th St
Des Moines, IA 50310
(515)271-6000

Mercy Medical Center Des Moines
1111 6th Ave
Des Moines, IA 50314
(515)247-3121

Blank Children's Hospital
1200 Pleasant St
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515)241-5437

Iowa Methodist Medical Center
1200 Pleasant St
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515)241-6212

Mary Greeley Medical Center
1111 Duff Ave
Ames, IA 50010
(515)239-2011

Story County Medical Center
630 Sixth St
Nevada, IA 50201
(515)382-2111

Dallas County Hospital
610 Tenth St
Perry, IA 50220
(515)465-3547

Boone County Hospital
1015 Union St
Boone, IA 50036
(515)432-3140

Skiff Medical Center
204 N Fourth Ave E
Newton, IA 50208
(641)792-1273

Madison County Healthcare System
300 Hutchings St
Winterset, IA 50273
(515)462-2373

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