What is bladder cancer?
Bladder cancer is a relatively rare form of cancer that starts in the lining of your bladder. Your bladder is a small hollow organ that holds your pee (urine). Healthcare providers have many ways to treat bladder cancer, including surgery to remove bladder cancer. Bladder cancer may come back after treatment, so people with bladder cancer should be vigilant about following up with their healthcare providers.
Healthcare providers can treat early-stage bladder cancer — cancer that’s found and treated before it can spread — but about 75% of early-stage bladder cancers come back.
How does this condition affect my body?
Your bladder is a triangle-shaped organ that’s centered between your hip bones, above your urethra and below your kidneys. Pee from your kidneys drains into your bladder, which is lined with tissue called urothelium. Urothelium is made of cells that stretch when your bladder fills with pee and collapses when it’s empty. (Your bladder can hold about 2 cups of pee.)
Bladder cancer happens when certain cells in the tissue lining your bladder mutate or change, becoming abnormal cells that multiply and cause tumors in your bladder. Left untreated, bladder cancer may grow through your bladder walls to nearby lymph nodes and then other areas of your body, including your bones, lungs or liver.
What are bladder cancer types?
There are three types of bladder cancer. Each type is named for the cells that line the wall of your bladder where the cancer started. Bladder cancer types include:
- Transitional cell carcinoma: This cancer starts in transitional cells in the inner lining of your bladder wall. About 90% of all bladder cancers are transitional. In this cancer type, abnormal cells spread from the inner lining to other layers deep in your bladder or through your bladder wall into fatty tissues that surround your bladder. This bladder cancer type is also known as urothelial bladder cancer.
- Squamous cell carcinoma: Squamous cells are thin, flat cells that line the inside of your bladder. This bladder cancer accounts for about 5% of bladder cancers and typically develops in people who’ve had long bouts of bladder inflammation or irritation.
- Adenocarcinoma: Adenocarcinoma cancers are cancers in the glands that line your organs, including your bladder. This is a very rare type of bladder cancer, accounting for 1% to 2% of all bladder cancers.
- Small cell carcinoma of the bladder: This extremely rare type of bladder cancer affects about 1,000 people in the U.S.
- Sarcoma: Rarely, soft tissue sarcomas start in bladder muscle cells.
Healthcare providers may also categorize bladder cancer as being noninvasive, non-muscle-invasive or muscle-invasive.
- Noninvasive: This bladder cancer may be tumors in a small section of tissue or cancer that’s only on or near the surface of your bladder.
- Non-muscle-invasive:This refers to bladder cancer that’s moved deeper into your bladder but hasn’t spread to muscle.
- Muscle-invasive:This bladder cancer has grown into bladder wall muscle and may have spread into the fatty layers or tissues on organs outside of your bladder.
How common is bladder cancer?
Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer affecting men and people designated male at birth (DMAB). Men and people DMAB are four times more likely to develop bladder cancer than women and people designated female at birth (DFAB). But women and people DFAB who do have bladder cancer typically have advanced forms of the disease because they don’t know about bladder cancer symptoms. According to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, women are less likely to pay attention to blood in their pee (hematuria), the first and most important bladder cancer symptom, because they associate blood in pee with common gynecological issues.
Bladder cancer typically affects people age 55 and older. On average, people are 73 when they’re diagnosed with bladder cancer. Men and people DMAB who are white are two times more likely to develop bladder cancer than men and people DMAB who are Black.
FAQs
The most common risk factor for bladder cancer is cigarette smoking, although smoking cigars and pipes can also raise the risk of developing bladder cancer. Smokers are 4 to 7 times more likely to develop bladder cancer than nonsmokers. Learn more about tobacco's link to cancer and how to quit smoking.
What is usually the first symptom of bladder cancer? ›
For most people, the first symptom of bladder cancer is blood in the urine, also called hematuria. Sometimes the blood is visible, prompting the patient to visit a doctor.
What is the most common treatment for bladder cancer? ›
Surgery is the main treatment for bladder cancer. The type of surgery depends on where the cancer is located. Other treatments may be given in addition to surgery: Treatment given before surgery is called preoperative therapy or neoadjuvant therapy.
What are the signs that bladder cancer is getting worse? ›
If bladder cancer reaches an advanced stage and begins to spread, symptoms can include:
- pelvic pain.
- bone pain.
- unintentional weight loss.
- swelling of the legs.
The 5-year relative survival rate of people with bladder cancer that has not spread beyond the inner layer of the bladder wall is 96%. Almost half of people are diagnosed with this stage. If the tumor is invasive but has not yet spread outside the bladder, the 5-year relative survival rate is 70%.
What is the red flag for bladder cancer? ›
Blood in the urine is the most common symptom of bladder cancer. Around 80 out of 100 people with bladder cancer (around 80%) have some blood in their urine. Doctors call blood in the urine haematuria (pronounced heem-at-you-ree-ah). You may see the blood in your urine.
How long can you have bladder cancer without knowing? ›
Can bladder cancer go undetected for years? If symptoms such as blood in the urine and changes in urinary habits are ignored by an individual and/or repeatedly misdiagnosed, it's possible that bladder cancer may not be detected for months or, in some cases, even years.
What can be mistaken for bladder cancer? ›
Bladder Cancer is a heterogeneous disease; the main symptom is painless hematuria. However, patients with Bladder Cancer may initially be misdiagnosed as Cystitis or infection, and cystoscopy alone may sometimes be misdiagnosed as urolithiasis or Cystitis, thereby delaying medical attention.
Does bladder cancer spread fast? ›
Bladder cancer spreads at different speeds depending on the type of bladder cancer you have. Urothelial bladder cancer is slow to spread, while other types are much faster. Urothelial bladder cancer is the most common type of bladder cancer. It typically doesn't spread very quickly.
Is bladder cancer usually curable? ›
Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer can often be cured. For muscle-invasive bladder cancer, prognosis also depends on whether carcinoma in situ is also present.
Where can bladder cancer spread to? Not all bladder cancers will spread. But If it does it's most likely to spread to the structures close to the bladder, such as the ureters, urethra, prostate, vagin*, or into the pelvis. This is called local spread.
What does Stage 1 bladder cancer feel like? ›
The first sign of bladder cancer is blood in the urine, which is painless for most people. In the early stages, this may be your only symptom, though some people don't experience it. Other symptoms include changes in bladder habits, frequent urinary infections, and pelvic or back pain, which might be on one side.
Do you feel sick with bladder cancer? ›
If your bladder cancer has spread you might: have bone, back or tummy pain. feel very tired (fatigue) feel generally unwell.
What hurts when you have bladder cancer? ›
Pain in flank, the section of the back between the ribs and the hip bone. Painful urination. Frequent urination. Urinary hesitancy, or difficulty beginning to urinate.
How does bladder cancer make you feel? ›
Bladder cancer symptoms are usually clear and easy to notice. If any of these symptoms are present, it may be worth making an appointment to see a doctor: Blood in the urine, frequent urination, painful urination or back pain.
What is the single most important risk factor in bladder cancer? ›
Smoking. Smoking is the most important risk factor for bladder cancer. People who smoke are at least 3 times as likely to get bladder cancer as people who don't. Smoking causes about half of all bladder cancers.
Who gets bladder cancer the most? ›
The incidence of bladder cancer is 4 times higher in men than in women and 2 times higher in White men than in Black, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander men.
