Survival

Survival depends on many different factors. So no one can tell you exactly how long you will live. It depends on your:

• type and stage of cancer
• level of fitness
• previous treatment

These are general statistics based on large groups of patients. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case.

Survival by stage of bladder cancer

There are no UK-wide statistics available for bladder cancer survival by stage.

Survival statistics are available for each stage of bladder cancer in England. These figures are for men and women diagnosed between 2013 and 2017.

Stage 1

Around 80 out of 100 people (around 80%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.

Stage 1 means that the cancer has started to grow into the connective tissue beneath the bladder lining.

Stage 2 

Around 45 out of 100 people (around 45%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis. 

Stage 2 means that the cancer has grown through the connective tissue layer into the muscle of the bladder wall.

Stage 3

Around 40 out of 100 people (around 40%)  survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.

Stage 3 means that the cancer has grown through the muscle into the fat layer.  It may have spread outside the bladder to the prostate, womb or vagina.

Stage 4 

The statistics for stage 4 bladder cancer survival don’t take into account the age of the people with bladder cancer. Statistics that do take into account the age (age-standardised statistics) are not available.

Around 10 out of 100 people (around 10%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.

Stage 4 means that the cancer has spread to the wall of the abdomen or pelvis, the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body. If bladder cancer does spread to another part of the body, it is most likely to go to the bones, lungs or liver.

Survival for all stages of bladder cancer

Generally, for people diagnosed with bladder cancer in England:

• around 75 out of every 100 (around 75%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis
• almost 55 out of every 100 (almost 55%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed
• around 45 out of every 100 (around 45%) survive their cancer for 10 years or more after diagnosis

What affects survival

Your outlook depends on the stage of the cancer when it is diagnosed. This means whether the cancer is just in the bladder lining or whether it has spread into the muscle wall of the bladder or beyond. 

The type of bladder cancer can affect your likely survival. And the grade of the cancer may also be important. Grade means how abnormal the cells look under the microscope.

Most bladder cancers are diagnosed when they are still only in the bladder lining. These are called early bladder cancers. The outlook for early bladder cancers depend on several factors, including:​​

• exactly how far the cancer cells have gone into the bladder lining
• the number of tumours
• how wide the tumours are
• how abnormal the cancer cells look under the microscope (the grade)
• whether CIS (high grade changes in the bladder lining) is present
• whether this a recurrence and how often a tumour has recurred

Your doctor looks at all these factors. They use them to decide whether there is a low, medium (intermediate) or high risk of the cancer coming back or spreading into the muscle of the bladder. Your doctor will be able to tell you about your risk group and how this affects your outcome.

Clinical trials

Taking part in clinical trials can help to improve the outlook for people with bladder cancer.

More statistics

You can read more statistics on survival rates and other factors for bladder cancer in our Cancer Statistics section.

About these statistics

The terms 1 year survival and 5 year survival don't mean that you will only live for 1 or 5 years. Some people live much longer than 5 years.