Bladder Cancer

A common question most patients ask after a diagnosis relates to survival rates. Like many other cancers, bladder cancer survival rates correlate to the stage of cancer present. While statistics represent a massive amount of patients studied over several years, each person's situation is different and many factors contribute to a person's survival.

 

The most recent study, according to the American Cancer Society, yields positive survival rates for patients diagnosed with stage zero (98%) or stage one (88%) bladder cancer. As expected, survival rates tend to decline depending on the advanced stage of diagnosed cancer. The rates are:

Stage two: 63%
Stage three: 46%
Stage four: 15%

Risk Factors

It's unclear what causes bladder cancer, but certain risk factors raise the likelihood of developing cancer. These risk factors include:

Smoking
Growing older
Being Caucasian
Being male
Prior cancer treatments
Certain diabetes medications
Recurring inflammation in the bladder from infection and other disorders
Family history
Like many other cancers, a patient may not meet any of these criteria and develop cancer.

Types of Bladder Cancer

Cancer occurs when cells inside the bladder start growing abnormally, meaning they don't divide and grow like other cells. These cells don't die like typical cells and result in a tumor. There are three types of cells in the bladder that may mutate into cancer. The type of cell where the cancer originates dictates the type of cancer a patient has. Some cancer patients' cases consist of multiple cell cancers.

When cancer originates in the cells that line the interior wall of the bladder, the resulting cancer is transitional cell carcinoma. This type of cells stretches and shrinks according to the amount of urine present in the bladder and make up the interior of the urethra and ureters. Transitional cell carcinoma is the most frequently diagnosed cancer.

Squamous cells are found in the bladder when an infection or inflammation present. When these cells mutate, squamous cell carcinoma occurs. This type of cancer is rare in the U.S., but much more common in areas of the world where parasitic infection rates are higher.

Another rare form, adenocarcinoma, occurs in the mucous-making cells in the bladder.


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