The bladder is a hollow organ which is situated in the lower pelvis; it has muscular walls which stretch to hold urine and then squeeze to release it. The main function of the bladder is to store urine.

What is bladder cancer?

Bladder cancer occurs when the bladder experiences the growth of abnormal tissue or tumor, which forms in the bladder lining. Sometimes this tumor may even spread to the muscles. The healthy cells which make up your urinary bladder, namely urothelial cells, start to behave erratically. As the cancer cells develop even more, they create a tumor which soon spreads to different body parts. The tumor formed may be benign or malignant.

A cancerous tumor will be malignant and may grow and penetrate to other body organs. A benign tumor, on the other hand, may grow but doesn’t spread to other organs. Benign tumors in the bladder are typically rare. There are different types of bladder cancer and the most common symptom is blood found in the urine without any kind of pain.

Types of bladder cancer

Once bladder cancer has been diagnosed, it is possible to determine which type it is based on the extent of the growth in the body.

When the cancerous cells are contained within the bladder wall lining, it is considered to be non-muscle invasive. While common, it isn’t as life-threatening. When cancerous cells spread beyond the bladder lining, it is termed as muscle-invasive and this type of bladder cancer, though less common, has higher chances of affecting the other organs. When cancer spreads to different body parts, it is considered metastatic bladder cancer.

• Urothelial Carcinoma
  This is also called transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) and is the most common type. This cancer originates in the urothelial cells which make up the inside lining of the bladder. These cells also line different parts of your urinary tract, like the part of the kidney which is linked to the ureter, also known as the renal pelvis, urethra, and the ureters. Those suffering from bladder cancer are likely to have tumors in these areas. Therefore, doctors recommend scanning the entire urinary tract.
• Squamous Cell Carcinoma
  This type of cancer is rather rare; only about one to two per cent of people in the country are diagnosed with this condition. When observed under a microscope, the cells resemble the flat cells which can be seen on our skin surface. Most of the cases belonging to this type are muscle-invasive.
• Adenocarcinoma
  This type of cancer is quite rare and only one per cent of patients suffering from bladder cancer are affected by this condition. Here, cancer cells have much in common with the gland-forming cells in colon cancer. Almost all cases that belong to this type are also invasive.
• Small Cell Carcinoma
  This type constitutes less than one per cent of bladder cancer cases. This cancer originates in neuroendocrine cells and grows fast. They must be treated with chemotherapy sessions, which are similar to treatment for lung small cell carcinoma.
• Sarcoma
  Sarcoma begins in the bladder muscle cells but it is a highly rare occurrence.

The aforementioned types of bladder cancers, apart from sarcoma, are usually not that common and they are treated in the same way as TCC.