where does bladder cancer begin

Symptoms

Jan 30, 2019 · Bladder cancer usually starts in the lining or inner layer of the bladder wall. As the cancer grows through the layers of the bladder wall, it becomes harder to treat. The “transitional epithelium” on the picture is the lining layer where most bladder cancers start. Over time they can spread deeper into the other layers.

Causes

Bladder cancer can often be found early because it causes blood in the urine or other urinary symptoms that cause a person to see a health care provider. Blood in the urine In most cases, blood in the urine (called hematuria ) is the first sign of bladder cancer.

Prevention

Some of these acquired gene mutations result from exposure to cancer-causing chemicals or radiation. For example, chemicals in tobacco smoke can be absorbed into the blood, filtered by the kidneys, and end up in urine, where they can affect bladder cells. Other chemicals may reach the bladder the same way.

Complications

Bladder cancer occurs when there are abnormal, cancerous cells growing uncontrollably in the lining of the bladder, which is the hollow organ in the lower abdomen that stores urine. These cancerous cells begin to affect the normal function of the bladder and can spread to …

How dangerous is bladder cancer?

In either case, the cancer is only in the inner lining layer of the bladder. It has not invaded (spread deeper into) the bladder wall. This early stage of bladder cancer is most often treated with transurethral resection (TURBT) with fulguration followed by intravesical therapy within 24 hours. Stage 0a Sometimes no further treatment is needed.

What are the chances of dying from bladder cancer?

Most often, bladder cancer is diagnosed after a person tells their doctor about blood in the urine, also called hematuria. “Gross hematuria” means that enough blood is present in the urine that the patient can see it. It is also possible that there are small amounts of …

How quickly does bladder cancer grow and spread?

This is known as metastasis. Usually, metastatic bladder cancer refers to cancer that has spread to distant organs, but metastasis can occur locally in the muscles and connective tissues that are directly adjacent to the bladder as well. Local bladder cancer metastasis. When bladder cancer spreads, it first invades the bladder wall, which is made up of four distinct layers. It can take …

Where is in the bladder does cancer originate?

Bladder cancer typically begins in the inner lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine after it passes from the kidneys. Most bladder cancers are caught early, when treatments are highly…

Where does bladder cancer first occur?

When bladder cancer spreads, it first invades the bladder wall, which is made up of four distinct layers. It can take some time for cancer to penetrate all of these layers, but once it has, it can then spread into the surrounding fatty tissues and lymph nodes.

What is usually the first symptom of bladder cancer?

In most cases, blood in the urine (called hematuria) is the first sign of bladder cancer. There may be enough blood to change the color of the urine to orange, pink, or, less often, dark red.

What area is affected in bladder cancer?

More than 90 percent of bladder cancers start in the cells that make up the innermost lining of the bladder wall.

Where is bladder cancer most common?

Bladder cancer most often begins in the cells (urothelial cells) that line the inside of your bladder. Urothelial cells are also found in your kidneys and the tubes (ureters) that connect the kidneys to the bladder. Urothelial cancer can happen in the kidneys and ureters, too, but it’s much more common in the bladder.

What are the 5 warning signs of bladder cancer?

Here are five warning signs to watch for:Blood in the urine (hematuria). This is the most common early symptom of bladder cancer and typically the first sign of bladder cancer that is seen. … UTI-like symptoms. … Unexplained pain. … Decreased appetite. … Postmenopausal uterine bleeding.

How do I find out if I have bladder cancer?

Tests for bladder cancer look for different substances and/or cancer cells in the urine. Urinalysis: One way to test for bladder cancer is to check for blood in the urine ( hematuria). This can be done during a urinalysis, which is a simple test to check for blood and other substances in a sample of urine.

Do you feel ill with bladder cancer?

Nausea and vomiting. Burning or pain when you urinate, feeling the need to go often, or blood in urine. Diarrhea. Feeling tired.

Can you have bladder cancer for years and not know it?

It may be seen as a symptom of post-menopausal bleeding, simple cystitis or a urinary tract infection. As a result, a bladder cancer diagnosis can be overlooked for a year or more.

Does your back hurt with bladder cancer?

Bladder cancer can cause lower back pain when it reaches a more advanced form of the disease. The pain is typically only on one side of the back, but it can be centrally located. Lower back pain might occur once the tumors increase in size or cancer cells start to spread to other parts of your body.

Can bladder cancer symptoms come and go?

Symptoms often come and go, and are often not severe. The most common symptoms include the following: Hematuria (blood in the urine) — The most common sign of bladder cancer is blood in the urine (hematuria).

What are the two greatest risk factors for bladder cancer?

Risk factors you can changeSmoking. Smoking is the most important risk factor for bladder cancer. … Workplace exposures. Certain industrial chemicals have been linked with bladder cancer. … Certain medicines or herbal supplements. … Arsenic in drinking water. … Not drinking enough fluids. … Race and ethnicity. … Age. … Gender.More items…•

What age does bladder cancer occur?

Bladder cancer occurs mainly in older people. About 9 out of 10 people with this cancer are over the age of 55. The average age of people when they are diagnosed is 73. Overall, the chance men will develop this cancer during their life is about 1 in 27.

How Does The Doctor Know I Have Bladder Cancer?

Bladder cancer might cause symptoms such as: 1. Having trouble peeing 2. Feeling pain when peeing 3. Needing to go more often than normal 4. Seeing…

Tests to Look For Bladder Cancer

Your doctor may do other tests to find out more about the cancer. Some of them are:X-ray: Dye is put into a vein for a special x-ray of the kidneys…

How Serious Is My Cancer?

If you have bladder cancer, the doctor will want to find out how far it has spread. This is called staging. Your doctor will want to find out the s…

What Kind of Treatment Will I Need?

There’s more than one way to treat bladder cancer. You might want to get a second opinion about the best treatment plan for you. Doctors may have d…

What Will Happen After Treatment?

You will be glad when treatment is over. But it’s hard not to worry about cancer coming back. Even when cancer never comes back, people still worry…

Where is the bladder located?

The bladder is a hollow organ that stores urine before it leaves your body. It sits in the lowest part of your belly, called your pelvis. Urine is made in your kidneys. Tubes called ureters connect your kidneys to the bladder. Urine flows through the ureters and into your bladder, where it’s stored. When you urinate (pee), the bladder squeezes the urine out through a tube called the urethra.

How do you know if you have bladder cancer?

Signs of bladder cancer are problems peeing, pain when peeing, needing to go more often than normal, and seeing blood in your urine

What is the blue light on a cystoscopy?

Blue light cystoscopy: Sometimes, special drugs are put into the bladder during the exam. Cancer cells soak up these drugs and then glow when the doctor shines a blue light through the scope. This can help the doctor see cancer cells that might have been missed with the normal light.

What is the best test to find out if you have bladder cancer?

Ultrasound: This test uses sound waves to make pictures of the organs inside your body, like your bladder and kidneys. It can help show the size of a bladder cancer and if it has spread. Bone scan: A bone scan can help show if bladder cancer has spread to the bones. This test is not done unless you have bone pain.

What tests are done to check for bladder cancer?

This might include a rectal exam, during which a gloved finger is put into your rectum. If you are a woman, a pelvic exam might also be done.

Where does urine go when you pee?

Urine flows through the ureters and into your bladder, where it’s stored. When you urinate (pee), the bladder squeezes the urine out through a tube called the urethra. Bladder cancer usually starts in the lining or inner layer of the bladder wall.

What is it called when cancer cells spread to other parts of the body?

For instance, cancer cells in the bladder can travel to the bone and grow there. When cancer cells spread, it’s called metastasis . Cancer is always named for the place where it starts.

How does bladder cancer start?

Bladder cancer starts when cells that make up the urinary bladder start to grow out of control. As more cancer cells develop, they can form a tumor and, with time, spread to other parts of the body. (To learn more about how cancers start and spread, see What Is Cancer?)

Where does bladder cancer spread?

Over time, the cancer might grow outside the bladder and into nearby structures. It might spread to nearby lymph nodes, or to other parts of the body. (When bladder cancer spreads, it tends to go to distant lymph nodes, the bones, the lungs, or the liver.)

What percentage of bladder cancers are adenocarcinoma?

Adenocarcinoma. Only about 1% of bladder cancers are adenocarcinomas. These cancer cells have a lot in common with gland-forming cells of colon cancers . Nearly all adenocarcinomas of the bladder are invasive.

What is the name of the cell that starts bladder cancer?

Small cell carcinoma. Less than 1% of bladder cancers are small-cell carcinomas. They start in nerve-like cells called neuroendocrine cells. These cancers often grow quickly and usually need to be treated with chemotherapy like that used for small cell carcinoma of the lung.

What is the bladder wall made of?

The wall of the bladder has many several layers. Each layer is made up of different kinds of cells (see Bladder Cancer Stages for details on the different layers). Most bladder cancers start in the innermost lining of the bladder, which is called the urothelium or transitional epithelium. As the cancer grows into or through the other layers in …

Where do papillary tumors grow?

Papillary tumors often grow toward the center of the bladder without growing into the deeper bladder layers. These tumors are called non-invasive papillary cancers.

What organ holds urine?

The bladder is a hollow organ in the lower pelvis. It has flexible, muscular walls that can stretch to hold urine and squeeze to send it out of the body. The bladder ‘s main job is to store urine. Urine is liquid waste made by the 2 kidneys and then carried to the bladder through 2 tubes called ureters.

Why is bladder cancer so early?

Bladder cancer can often be found early because it causes blood in the urine or other urinary symptoms that cause a person to see a health care provider.

What are the symptoms of bladder cancer?

Being unable to urinate. Lower back pain on one side. Loss of appetite and weight loss. Feeling tired or weak. Swelling in the feet. Bone pain. Again, many of these symptoms are more likely to be caused by something other than bladder cancer, but it’s important to have them checked.

Why does urine have blood in it?

More often it’s caused by other things like an infection, benign (not cancer) tumors, stones in the kidney or bladder, or other benign kidney diseases. Still, it’s important to have it checked by a doctor so the cause can be found.

How long does urine stay clear after bladder cancer?

Blood may be present one day and absent the next, with the urine remaining clear for weeks or even months. But if a person has bladder cancer, at some point the blood reappears.

Can bladder cancer cause a change in urination?

Bladder cancer can sometimes cause changes in urination, such as: Having to urinate more often than usual. Pain or burning during urination. Feeling as if you need to go right away, even when your bladder isn’t full. Having trouble urinating or having a weak urine stream.

How do bladder cancer mutations occur?

Some of these acquired gene mutations result from exposure to cancer-causing chemicals or radiation. For example, chemicals in tobacco smoke can be absorbed into the blood, filtered by the kidneys, and end up in urine, where they can affect bladder cells. Other chemicals may reach the bladder the same way. But sometimes, gene changes may just be random events that sometimes happen inside a cell, without having an outside cause.

What are the genes that cause bladder cancer?

Acquired changes in certain genes, such as the TP53 or RB1 tumor suppressor genes and the FGFR and RAS oncogenes , are thought to be important in the development of some bladder cancers. Changes in these and similar genes may also make some bladder cancers more likely to grow and spread into the bladder wall than others.

What causes cancer cells to turn on oncogenes?

Cancers can be caused by DNA changes (gene mutations) that turn on oncogenes or turn off tumor suppressor genes. Several different gene changes are usually needed for a cell to become cancer.

Can bladder cancer cause cancer?

Researchers do not know exactly what causes most bladder cancers. But they have found some risk factors (see Bladder Cancer Risk Factors ) and are starting to understand how they cause cells in the bladder to become cancer. Certain changes in the DNA inside normal bladder cells can make them grow abnormally and form cancers.

Can bladder cancer be caused by inherited mutations?

Inherited gene mutations. Some people inherit gene changes from their parents that increase their risk of bladder cancer. But bladder cancer does not often run in families, and inherited gene mutations are not thought to be a major cause of this disease.

What is bladder cancer?

Overview. Bladder cancer occurs when there are abnormal, cancerous cells growing uncontrollably in the lining of the bladder, which is the hollow organ in the lower abdomen that stores urine. These cancerous cells begin to affect the normal function of the bladder and can spread to surrounding organs. Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer …

What percentage of bladder cancer is advanced?

Muscle-invasive bladder cancer occurs when the cancer invades the bladder wall. This is considered advanced stage and represents the other 25 to 30 percent of diagnoses.

Can bladder cancer spread to other parts of the body?

In some cases, muscle-invasive bladder cancer can also spread (metastasize) to surrounding organs or other parts of the body. Find a Doctor. Specializing In: Lower Urinary Tract Reconstruction. Urinary Tract Cancer. Bladder Cancer. Endourology. See More. At Another Johns Hopkins Member Hospital:

Is bladder cancer more common in men than women?

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men, and it is three times more common in men than women. There are two types of bladder cancer: Nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer, also called superficial bladder cancer, occurs when cancerous cells are contained in the lining of the bladder and have not invaded the bladder wall.

What is the first treatment for bladder cancer?

Chemo (with or without radiation) is typically the first treatment when bladder cancer has spread to distant parts of the body (M1). After this treatment the cancer is rechecked. If it looks like it’s gone, a boost of radiation to the bladder may be given or cystectomy might be done.

What is stage 0 bladder cancer?

Stage 0 bladder cancer includes non-invasive papillary carcinoma (Ta) and flat non-invasive carcinoma (Tis or carcinoma in situ). In either case, the cancer is only in the inner lining layer of the bladder. It has not invaded (spread deeper into) the bladder wall.

What to do if you have cancer that hasn’t been removed?

(Less often, close follow-up alone might be an option.) If all of the cancer wasn’t removed, options are intravesical BCG or cystectomy (removal of part or all of the bladder).

How to get rid of stage IV cancer?

The tumor is then rechecked. If it appears to be gone, chemo with or without radiation or cystectomy are options.

What is the treatment for cancer that recurs in distant parts of the body?

Cancers that recur in distant parts of the body can be harder to remove with surgery, so other treatments, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or radiation therapy , might be needed. For more on dealing with a recurrence, see Understanding Recurrence.

Can you get a partial cystectomy for bladder cancer?

Lymph nodes near the bladder are often removed as well. If cancer is in only one part of the bladder, a partial cystectomy may be done instead. But this is possible in only a small number of patients . Radical cystectomy may be the only treatment for people who are not well enough to get chemo.

Can a TURBT cure bladder cancer?

Transurethral resection (TURBT) with fulguration is usually the first treatment for these cancers. But it’s done to help determine the extent of the cancer rather than to try to cure it. If no other treatment is given, many people will later get a new bladder cancer, which often will be more advanced. This is more likely to happen if the first cancer is high-grade (fast-growing).

What does it mean when you feel the need to urinate but can’t pass urine?

Feeling the need to urinate, but not being able to pass urine. Lower back pain on 1 side of the body. Most often, bladder cancer is diagnosed after a person tells their doctor about blood in the urine, also called hematuria. “Gross hematuria” means that enough blood is present in the urine that the patient can see it.

Can you see blood in urine?

It is also possible that there are small amounts of blood in the urine that cannot be seen. This is called “microscopic hematuria,” and it can only be found with a urine test. General urine tests are not used to make a specific diagnosis of bladder cancer because hematuria can be a sign of several other conditions that are not cancer, …

Can bladder cancer spread to other parts of the body?

Sometimes when the first symptoms of bladder cancer appear, the cancer has already spread to another part of the body. In this situation, the symptoms depend on where the cancer has spread. For example, cancer that has spread to the lungs may cause a cough or shortness of breath, spread to the liver may cause abdominal pain or jaundice …

Can bladder cancer cause pain?

People with bladder cancer may experience the following symptoms or signs. Sometimes, people with bladder cancer do not have any of these changes. Or, the cause of a symptom may be a different medical condition that is not cancer. Blood or blood clots in the urine. Pain or burning sensation during urination.

How does bladder cancer spread?

Bladder cancer spreads when cancerous cells reproduce and invade surrounding healthy tissues. This is known as metastasis. Usually, metastatic bladder cancer refers to cancer that has spread to distant organs, but metastasis can occur locally in the muscles and connective tissues that are directly adjacent to the bladder as well.

What is the treatment for bladder cancer?

Potential treatment options may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy and clinical trials.

Can bladder cancer be metastasized to lymphatic system?

Once cancerous cells have reached the lymphatic system, they can make their way to almost any part of the body. However, the most common sites for distant bladder cancer metastases include the:

Can bladder cancer spread to other organs?

Metastatic bladder cancer can also spread to other organs in the urinary and reproductive tracts, such as the prostate, uterus and vagina.

Does Moffitt Cancer Center treat bladder cancer?

At Moffitt Cancer Center, we’ve treated many patients with metastatic bladder cancer, creating ta ilored treatment plans for every single one. To help ease the burdens of treatment, we also offer comprehensive supportive care services for patients and their caregivers.

Where does bladder cancer start?

Cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the body. Bladder cancer typically begins in the inner lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine after it passes from the kidneys. Most bladder cancers are caught early, when treatments are highly successful and the disease has not spread beyond the bladder.

How long do people with bladder cancer live?

About half of bladder cancers are caught when the disease is confined to the inner lining of the bladder. About 96% of these people will live at least 5 years, compared to people without bladder cancer.

What jobs can cause bladder cancer?

Research suggests that certain jobs may increase your risk for bladder cancer. Metal workers, mechanics, and hairdressers are among those who may be exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. If you work with dyes, or in the making of rubber, textiles, leather, or paints, be sure to follow safety procedures to reduce contact with dangerous chemicals. Smoking further increases risk from chemical exposure.

What tests can show if a cancerous tumor has spread beyond the bladder?

If cancer is found, imaging tests can show whether it has spread beyond the bladder. An intravenous pyelogram uses dye to outline the kidneys, bladder, and ureters, the tubes that carry urine to the bladder. CT and MRI scans give more detailed images of these, and can show the lymph nodes nearby.

What is the procedure to remove the bladder?

Transurethral surgery is most often done for early-stage cancers. If cancer has invaded more of the bladder, the surgeon will likely perform a total cystectomy, removing the entire bladder and nearby lymph nodes. For men, the prostate and seminal vesicles may also be removed..

What is the best way to diagnose bladder cancer?

The cystoscope can be used to remove small tissue samples (a biopsy ) to be examined under a microscope. A biopsy is the best way to diagnose cancer. Swipe to advance. 1 / 22.

Where does cancer spread?

Stage III: Cancer has spread to fatty tissue around the bladder and possibly certain nearby lymph nodes. It may also have spread to the prostate in men or the uterus or vagina in women. Stage IV: Cancer has spread to the pelvic or abdominal wall, lymph nodes, or distant sites such as bone, liver, or lungs.

Types of Bladder Cancer

Other Types of Bladder Cancer

Start and Spread of Bladder Cancer