Survival for bladder cancer
Survival depends on many factors. No one can tell you exactly how long you will live.
Below are general statistics based on large groups of people. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case.
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.
The NHS, other health organisations, and researchers collect information. They record what happens to people with cancer in the years after their diagnosis. 5 years is a common time point to measure survival. But some people live much longer than this.
5 year survival is the number of people who have not died from their cancer within 5 years after diagnosis.
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.
Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2013 and 2017.
These statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
The statistics for stage 4 bladder cancer survival don’t take into account the age of the people with stage 4 bladder cancer. Statistics that do take into account the age (age-standardised statistics) are not available.
Without age standardisation, the survival differences between the 4 stage groups can be influenced by the age of the people in each stage group, in addition to their disease progression or treatment.
We should not use these non age-standardised figures to compare survival with other groups, such as different cancer types, stages, or populations from other countries.
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
- more than 50 out of every 100 (more than 50%) 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
1 and 5 year survival statistics
Cancer survival in England, cancers diagnosed 2016 to 2020, followed up to 2021
NHS England
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2016 and 2020.
10 year survival statistics
Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019
Office for National Statistics
1, 5 and 10 year statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
Conditional survival for bladder cancer
For some cancer types, prognosis improves as time passes. For example, your chances of surviving your cancer for a total of 5 years or more after diagnosis are higher if you have already survived a year since diagnosis. Doctors call this conditional survival. It gives an updated picture of your prognosis. It takes into account how long you have already survived since diagnosis.
For people in England who survive their bladder cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis:
- almost 70 out of 100 people (almost 70%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more
Conditional survival estimates how likely it is that you will survive your cancer for a further 4 years or more after surviving 1 year.
Conditional survival
1 and 5 year conditional survival for patients diagnosed in England, 2015-2019
Cancer Research UK - National Disease Registration Service partnership
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2015 and 2019. They are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
These conditional survival statistics don’t take into account the age of the people with bladder cancer. Conditional survival statistics that do take into account the age (age-standardised statistics) are not available.
Without age standardisation, the survival differences between patient groups can be influenced by the age of the people, in addition to their disease progression or treatment.
We should not use these non age-standardised figures to compare survival with other groups, such as different cancer types, stages, or populations from other countries.
What affects survival
Your outlook (prognosis) depends on whether you have:
- non muscle invasive bladder cancer - the cancer is only in the lining or the connective tissue beneath the bladder lining
- muscle invasive bladder cancer - the cancer has grown into a deeper (muscle) layer of the bladder, or beyond
Non muscle invasive bladder cancer
Most bladder cancers are diagnosed when they are still only in the bladder lining. These are called non muscle invasive bladder cancers. The prognosis for non muscle invasive bladder cancers depends 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 outlook.
Muscle invasive bladder cancer
For muscle invasive bladder cancer, your outlook depends on the stage of your cancer. This means how far it has spread through the muscle wall, and whether it has spread into lymph nodes or to other parts of your body.
The type of bladder cancer might also affect your outlook.
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.
