The bladder's primary function is to store urine, the waste that is produced when the kidneys filter the blood. Urine passes from the two kidneys into the bladder through two tubes called ureters and urine leaves the bladder through another tube called the urethra. The bladder has a muscular wall that allows it to get larger and smaller as urine is stored or emptied.

 

The wall of the bladder is lined with several layers of cells called transitional cells. Cancer arising from these cells makes up more than 90% of all bladder cancers and these are referred to as transitional cell carcinomas. Because transitional cell carcinomas are the most common type of bladder cancer, the information in this section only addresses treatment of transitional cell cancer of the bladder. Bladder cancer occurs predominantly in elderly men and less frequently in women and younger men. Many bladder cancers are thought to be caused by exposure to cancer-causing agents that pass through the urine and come into contact with the bladder lining. The most important risk factor for bladder cancer is smoking, which increases risk by at least four-fold.1

 

The most common sign of bladder cancer is hematuria or blood in the urine, which will turn the urine rust or red in color.2 Other signs of bladder cancer may include pain during urination and frequent urination. Most patients with bladder cancer do not have symptoms other than hematuria. Unfortunately, most bladder cancers are not diagnosed until they have become very large. As a result, research is ongoing in order to develop urine tests that would enable earlier detection of bladder cancer when it is small and more easily treated. There are several promising tests under evaluation, but currently none are reliable enough for routine use.

 

An outpatient procedure called a cystoscopy is usually used to diagnose bladder cancer. During a cystoscopy, the physician (a urologist) inserts a thin, lighted tube (cystoscope) into the bladder through the urethra to examine the internal lining of the bladder. The procedure enables the urologist to remove (biopsy) small samples of any abnormal appearing areas of the bladder and examine them under the microscope. When bladder cancer is diagnosed, the urologist will want to learn the stage or extent of the cancer, as well as the grade (aggressiveness) of the cancer as determined by its appearance under the microscope. Grade is important because it indicates how closely the cancer resembles normal tissue and suggests how fast the cancer is likely to grow. Low-grade cancers more closely resemble normal tissue and are likely to grow and spread more slowly than high-grade cancers.

 

Staging is an attempt to determine the extent to which the cancer has spread. The stage of bladder cancer may be determined at the time of diagnosis or it may be necessary to perform additional tests such as computerized tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or an intravenous pyelogram (IVP), a procedure which involves the injection of dye into the blood. When the dye (contrast) travels through the kidneys and ureters, it allows them to be visualized with X-rays (fluoroscopy).

 

Some risk factors, such as a genetic mutation within a gene called the p53 gene, are associated with a poor outcome following treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Therefore, physicians may look for the presence of such risk factors upon a diagnosis of bladder cancer in order to best plan a treatment regimen. Research is ongoing to identify risk factors that are associated with a poor outcome, as well as factors that indicate that some patients may require less treatment. By identifying such factors, physicians are better able to tailor treatment to meet the needs of individual patients.

 

Cancers confined to the inner lining of the bladder are called “superficial” and comprise 70-80% of all bladder cancers.3 Cancers that have spread into the bladder wall are called “deep” bladder cancers and those that have spread to lymph nodes and/or distantly to lungs, liver or other organs are referred to as “metastatic.” In order to learn more about the most recent information available concerning the treatment of bladder cancer, read about the appropriate stage.

 

Stage 0 (T0): Patients with stage 0 bladder cancer have the earliest stage of cancer that involves only the innermost layers of cells in the bladder. Depending upon the appearance of the cells under the microscope, stage 0 transitional bladder cancer is pathologically classified as either noninvasive papillary carcinoma or carcinoma in situ (CIS), both of which are considered to be “superficial” bladder cancers.

 

Stage I (T1): Patients with stage I bladder cancer have cancer that invades beneath the surface of the bladder into connective tissue, but does not invade the muscle of the bladder and has not spread to lymph nodes. This is also classified as a “superficial bladder cancer.”

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Stage II (T2): Patients with stage II bladder cancer have cancer that invades through the connective tissue into the muscle wall, but has not spread outside the bladder wall or to local lymph nodes. Patients with cancer invading the inner half of the muscle of the bladder wall have a better outcome than patients with invasion into the deep muscle (outer half of the muscle of the bladder wall). Stage II bladder cancer is classified as a “deep” or “invasive” bladder cancer.

 

Stage III (T3): Patients with stage III bladder cancer have cancer that invades through the connective tissue and muscle and into the immediate tissue outside the bladder and/or invades the prostate gland in males or the uterus and/or vagina in females. With stage III bladder cancer, there is no spread to lymph nodes or distant sites. Stage III bladder cancer is also classified as a “deep” or “invasive” bladder cancer.

 

Stage IV (T4): Patients with stage IV bladder cancer have cancer that has extended through the bladder wall and invaded the pelvic and/or abdominal wall and/or has lymph node involvement and/or spread to distant sites. Stage IV bladder cancer is also referred to as “metastatic” bladder cancer.

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Recurrent Bladder Cancer: Patients with recurrent bladder cancer have cancer that has returned following initial treatment with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or immunotherapy.

 

REFERENCES

1 National Cancer Institute. Bladder and Other Urothelial Cancers (PDQ®): Screening. Health Professional Version. Available at:  (Accessed May 5, 2008).

2 Pashos CL, Botteman MF, Laskin BL, Redaelli A. Bladder Cancer: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Management.Cancer Practice 2002;10:311-322.

3 National Cancer Institute. Bladder Cancer (PDQ®): Treatment. Health Professional Version. Available at: (Accessed February 9, 2007).