Potential Effect of Antiplatelet and Anticoagulant Therapy on the Timing of the Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer

Abstract Background The most common presenting symptom of bladder cancer (BCa) is hematuria. The present study was designed to define whether patients taking antiplatelet and/or anticoagulant drugs might experience hematuria at an earlier stage or grade of BCa. Patients and Methods The data from 1532 consecutive patients who presented to the emergency unit of our institute from 2004 to 2012 because of gross hematuria as a single symptom were evaluated. Patients (n = 227) with a further diagnosis of BCa were included in our study. For the purpose of the present study, patients were divided into 2 groups: patients receiving antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy (AAT) (group 1) and patients no…