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Nearly 20,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) each year.
The four layers of the bladder wall:
Urothelial or transitional epithelium
Own sheet
Detrusor muscle
fatty connective tissue
Most types of UBC begin in the cells that line the innermost layer of the bladder, the urothelium.
Muscle invasive bladder cancer (CVCIM)
- Has spread to the muscular layer of the bladder wall
- It’s more advanced
- It is more likely to spread
- Treatment is more difficult
Bladder cancer without muscle invasion (CVSIM)
- Usually it is stage 0 (non-invasive) or stage 1 (early stage invasive cancer).
- Has not spread to the muscle layer
- Difficult to see as it is flat and integrates well into the wall
- High risk of spread and recurrence
There are two types of CVSIM:
Non-invasive flat carcinomas
- Also called carcinomas in situ (CIS).
- They do not spread to the hollow part of the bladder
Non-invasive papillary carcinomas
- They spread to the hollow part of the bladder
- Thin and finger-shaped
- They can spread or come back
Approximately one in ten bladder cancer patients has CIS at the time of diagnosis.
The uterus and urethra also have urothelial cells and can lead to urothelial cancer.
Sometimes the cancer spreads to other parts of the body such as lymph nodes, bones, lungs or liver.
This educational resource was created with support from Merck.
