O’Donnell calls it his personal mission. As director of the urologic oncology program in the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa, O’Donnell is one of only a handful of physicians in the country specializing in bladder cancer. But he wants that to change.

"With so many people not really clear on what causes it, on what the signs and symptoms are, patients will go on in many cases for months, sometimes even years, before it’s even considered as a diagnosis," he says.

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of bladder cancer, which affects about 600,000 people nationwide. It’s the fourth most common form of cancer among men and will kill more than 12,000 people this year alone.

So O’Donnell has turned to the Internet to help spread his message. He worked with the sister of a bladder cancer patient to create a web-based tool for patients and health care providers.

"If you really want to get the details on your particular cancer, there should be a reference point for that--a support group, a place where you can go to get resources, where you find out where the latest clinical trials specifically for your disease are. That’s really what we need for bladder cancer."

O’Donnell hopes to form a bladder cancer institute at the University of Iowa, where more studies can be done, better treatments created, and more awareness developed about bladder cancer.

Warning signs of bladder cancer include visible blood in the urine or persistent bladder irritability.

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Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center

Department of Urology

Michael O’Donnell, M.D.

Bladder Cancer Webcafe