Risk Factors

Age: most common in 50-70 year age range
Gender: more frequent in men than women (2:1)
Race: more frequent in whites than in blacks
Smoking: high frequency in heavy smokers
Location: the lateral walls of the bladder are more frequently involved by tumor than is the trigone
Occupation: Rubber and leather industries, painter, chemical worker, printer, metal worker, hairdresser, textile worker, machinist, truck driver
Industrial aniline dyes, benzidine, 2-maphthylamine, 4-aminobiphenyl (which presently has no commercial use in the United States, although it was formerly used as a rubber antioxidant, a dye intermediate, a research chemical, and in the detection of sulfates)
Chronic bladder infections with schistosoma hematobium
Pelvic irradiation
Prior chemotherapy with cytoxan

Studies (1980) showed that people who use artificial sweeteners do not appear to have a higher incidence of bladder cancer than that of non-users.

The period of time from exposure to development of cancer can be as long as 6-20 years.