Bladder Cancer

More than a half million people in the U.S. are bladder cancer survivors. New bladder cases have been on the decrease for men and women in recent years. Survival rates have increased for women and remained stable for men.

The bladder wall is made up of many layers of cells. It has an outer layer of muscle cells and an inner lining layer of transitional cells. Bladder cancer can affect any one or all of these cells (and layers). There are three types of cells that most commonly become bladder cancer:

• Urothelial cells or transitional cells. These cells make up the tissue that lines the inside of the bladder. This tissue is called the urothelium. Cancer that starts here is called urothelial carcinoma or transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). This is, by far, the most common type of bladder cancer.
• Squamous cells. These look like cells from the surface of the skin. They can start in the bladder if there's a lot of inflammation. Over time, they can become cancer. This type is rare, causing less than 1 in 50 of all bladder cancers.
• Cells that make up glands. This type of bladder cancer is called adenocarcinoma. It’s very rare. Only about 1 in 100 people with bladder cancer have this type.

Another way to talk about bladder cancer is by how deeply it spreads into the layers of the bladder wall. This puts the cancer into 1 of 2 groups:

• Nonmuscle invasive. This type of cancer affects only the inner lining of the bladder. (It's urothelial carcinoma or transitional cell carcinoma.) It hasn't grown deeper into the bladder's muscle layer. After treatment, nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer often comes back, usually as another nonmuscle invasive cancer.
• Muscle invasive. This cancer affects deeper muscle layers of the bladder and maybe the fatty tissue around the bladder. Invasive bladder cancer is more likely to spread to nearby organs. Almost all squamous cell bladder cancers and adenocarcinomas are invasive.