Bladder Cancer Stages - OmniMedicalSearch.com

Conditions & Diseases: Cancers

Bladder Cancer

Stages

An important prognostic predictor for any type of cancer is the clinicopathologic stage. A clinicopathologic stage describes the cancer developmental phase, and is established according to several criteria: (1) the tumor type and size, (2) the cancer location, and (3) the cancer extent (how far the cancer has spread within the body).

There are 5 stages of bladder cancer:

Stage 0: In this stage, the cancer is confined to the lining tissue inside the bladder. This stage is divided in two substages according to the tumor type.

- Stage 0A: Papillary carcinoma
The tumor looks like a tiny mushroom growing from the lining of the bladder.

- Stage 0B: Carcinoma in situ
The tumor has a flat appearance and is located on the lining tissue inside the bladder.

Stage I: In this stage, the cancer has spread deeply into the bladder wall affecting the second layer of tissue.

Stage II: In this stage, the cancer has spread either to the inner half or outer half of the muscle wall of the bladder.

Stage III: In this stage, the cancer has spread beyond the bladder walls affecting surrounding tissues even organs such as the prostate, uterus, or vagina.

Stage IV: In this stage, the cancer has spread either into the abdomen or pelvis affecting the lymph nodes, or to other organs within the body.

Bladder cancer is graded by the pathologist when he or she studies the tissue removed during biopsy from the tumor. This grade system refers to the cancer cells appearance when examined under microscope. The most common grading system uses three grades:

Grade 1 (low grade)
Grade 2 (moderate grade)
Grade 3 (high grade)

A low grade tumor means that the cancerous cells look very much like normal bladder cells, the tumor grows slow and is less likely to spread. A high grade tumor means that the cancerous cell appear abnormal, the tumor is more likely to grow fast and to spread.

Article by Alina Morrow, MS
Medical Writer
OmniMedicalSearch.com