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Staging of Bladder Cancer
Definitive diagnosis of bladder cancer requires surgery to obtain the bladder tissue for the
pathologists. The surgeon will also assess the stage of the tumor i.e. how far the disease has
spread. The stage of the tumor is the most important indicator of prognosis and overall
survival for invasive tumors.
Staging is an assessment of how far the tumor has spread.
| STAGE 1: | The tumor has spread only into loose tissue beneath the lining (lamina propria) but not into the bladder’s muscular wall or beyond. No lymph nodes are involved.
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| STAGE 2: | Tumor has invaded into the muscle wall (muscularis propria) of the bladder but has not spread to lymph nodes or other sites in the body.
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| STAGE 3: | Tumor has invaded through the muscle wall (muscularis propria) of the bladder to involve the soft tissue around the bladder OR has invaded adjacent organs including the prostate, uterus or vagina. No lymph nodes or other distant sites in the body are involved at this stage.
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| STAGE 4: | Tumor has extended out of the bladder to invade the pelvic or abdominal wall, but does not involve lymph nodes or other distant sites in the body. OR Tumor has spread to involve lymph nodes and/or other distant sites in the body.
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RECURRENT/REFRACTORY - Recurrence means that the tumor has returned after initial therapy. Refractory means that the tumor fails to respond to initial treatment.
In general, the lower the stage of the tumor, the better the prognosis.
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