Mild Dehydration and Apparent Relationship with Bladder and Colorectal Cancers

Background: The significance of water consumption/dehydration in cancer has not been elucidated
to this day.
Objective: Review the importance of water in colorectal and bladder cancers.
Methods: A critical review of the literature highlighted urinary tract infection and constipation with
bladder and colorectal cancers, as they relate with water ingestion.
Results: Several disparities were identified. Their source includes among others, the inability to
evaluate properly water intake, the lack of equivalence of low fluid intake with mild dehydration, the
multifaceted nature of the evaluated diseases, and the changing methods of research.
Conclusions: In spite of the clinical and technical limitations, some support for the input of
dehydration to the pathogenesis of the conditions described is evident.