The short answer
Smoking is the most important risk factor for bladder cancer, causing up to half of cases. Workplace chemical exposures and older age also raise risk. Avoiding tobacco is a key way to lower risk.
Smoking is the most important risk factor and causes up to half of bladder cancers.
Certain workplace chemical exposures raise risk.
Risk increases with age and is higher in men.
A family history, past pelvic radiation, and some past cancer drugs can raise risk.
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This page is for anyone who wants to know what raises the risk of bladder cancer. It covers smoking, workplace and medical exposures, who else is at higher risk, and what can lower risk.
The simple version
A risk factor is anything that raises the chance of a disease. It does not mean you will get that disease. For bladder cancer, tobacco use, especially cigarettes, is a major risk factor. NCI's clinician summary says smoking causes up to half of all cases.
Smoking is the biggest risk factor
Using tobacco, especially cigarettes, is a major risk factor for bladder cancer. NCI's clinician summary says cigarette smoking causes up to one-half of all bladder cancers. If you want to quit, your care team can help.
NCI's clinician summary says smoking raises bladder cancer risk two to four times above baseline.
E-cigarettes and other tobacco products
NCI names tobacco use, especially cigarettes, as the major tobacco risk. The NCI pages we checked do not give a risk for e-cigarettes or other tobacco products, so we make no claim about them here.
Workplace and environmental exposures
NCI lists workplace exposure to paints, dyes, metals, or petroleum products as a risk factor. It also lists arsenic in drinking water and long-term use of a urinary catheter.
Chronic irritation and other medical factors
NCI lists a bladder infection with the parasite Schistosoma haematobium as a risk factor. It also lists past radiation therapy to the pelvis and past treatment with the anticancer drugs cyclophosphamide or ifosfamide.
Who else is at higher risk
Risk rises with older age. Bladder cancer is more common in men than in women. A family history of bladder cancer also raises risk. Having a risk factor does not mean you will get bladder cancer.
Ways to lower your risk
NCI lists tobacco use and workplace chemical exposure among the risk factors you can control. If you use tobacco, your care team can help you quit. If you work around industrial chemicals, ask your employer about safety practices.
There is no routine screening test
NCI says there is no standard screening test for bladder cancer in people at average risk. Testing may be offered to people with a past bladder cancer or higher risk. Blood in the urine can be caused by cancer or by other conditions, so tell your care team if you see it.
What to ask your team
Ask whether your smoking or work history raises your risk. Ask whether quitting smoking now would still lower your risk. Ask whether any of your symptoms need evaluation. Ask what symptoms you should watch for going forward.
Sources
Common questions
What is the biggest risk factor?
Using tobacco, especially cigarettes, is a major risk factor. NCI's clinician summary says cigarette smoking causes up to one-half of all bladder cancers.
What workplace exposures matter?
NCI lists workplace exposure to paints, dyes, metals, or petroleum products as a risk factor.
Who else is at higher risk?
Risk rises with age and is higher in men. A family history of bladder cancer, past pelvic radiation, and some past cancer drugs can also raise risk.
Can I lower my risk?
NCI lists tobacco use and workplace chemical exposure among the risk factors you can control. Your care team can help you quit tobacco.
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Plain-language explanation of the published sources cited on this page. AI-assisted, source-checked, not clinician-reviewed.
Last updated: 2026-10-16Next planned review: 2027-07-07
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How this page was created
Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes, and this is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and then compared with the sources listed on it, looking for statements those sources do not back up. That check is not a sentence-by-sentence record and can miss errors. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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