stages

The stage of bladder cancer is a summary of the rule that the cancer has spread. One of the most important factors in choosing treatment options and estimate the prospects of a person for the recovery and survival (prognosis). If you have bladder cancer, ask your health care team to explain their point of view. This can help you make informed decisions about their treatment.

There are actually two different stages of bladder cancer.

In the clinical phase of the tumor, the doctor best estimate of the extent of the cancer, which is based on the results of physical examination, cystoscopy, biopsy, and all imaging tests that are made (eg, CT). These experiments and tests have been described in the section "How is bladder cancer diagnosed?" Doctors watching biopsy specimens are particularly interested to see if cancer cells have spread to the bladder muscle layers.

If surgery is done, the pathologic stage, determined from the test results as used in the clinical phase, as well as what is found during surgery to remove the bladder and nearby lymph nodes.

Clinical stage is used to help plan treatment. Sometimes, however, the cancer has spread beyond the clinical phase of the estimates. As the stage of disease according to what was found in surgery, can still accurately predict the patient's prospects for survival.