Muscle invasive bladder cancer staging

Muscle invasive bladder cancer is different to non muscle invasive bladder cancer. In non muscle invasive bladder cancer, the cancer ​cells​ are only in the inner lining. They haven’t spread into the muscle layer of the bladder wall.

Find out more about staging non muscle invasive bladder cancer

The stages of muscle invasive bladder cancer

Your doctor looks at how far the cancer ​(tumour) has grown into the bladder. This is called the T stage. The T stands for tumour. There are 3 T stages for muscle invasive bladder cancer:

• T2 means the cancer has grown into the muscle layer of the bladder 

• T3 means the cancer has grown through the muscle layer into the fatty ​tissue​ layer

• T4 means the cancer has grown outside the bladder into areas such as the ​prostate​, ​womb​ or ​vagina​, or into the wall of the ​pelvis​ or ​abdomen​

Your doctor also looks at:

• whether the cancer has spread to any ​lymph nodes​ - this is called the N stage

• whether or not it has spread to other parts of the body (distant metastasis), such as the bones, ​lungs​ or ​liver​ -this is called the M stage

Read more about the stages of bladder cancer

Locally advanced bladder cancer

Doctors may use the term locally advanced bladder cancer. This means the cancer has:

• grown through the bladder and into nearby tissues such as the vagina, womb, ovaries, prostate or back passage (rectum)

• spread to nearby lymph nodes

Advanced (metastatic) bladder cancer

Advanced bladder cancer means that the cancer has spread to:

• the wall of the abdomen or pelvis

• lymph nodes further away from the bladder

• other parts of the body such as the bones, lungs or liver

It is also called metastatic bladder cancer.

Find out about treatment for metastatic bladder cancer

Treatment

The stage of your cancer helps your healthcare team decide which treatment you need. Treatment also depends on:

• your type of cancer (the type of cells the cancer started in)

• where the cancer is

• other health conditions

Treatment may include:

• surgery

• chemotherapy

• radiotherapy

• radiotherapy with chemotherapy (chemoradiotherapy)

Find out about treatment for muscle invasive bladder cancer