My Bladder Cancer Fight

Bladder Cancer Survival Rate - Part 1

I found this article which give some interesting statistics regarding survival rate of bladder cancer patients. This article is from the United Kingdom but I feel that it would be much the same for North America. The URL to this full article is given at the end.

Most bladder cancers are diagnosed while they are still only in the bladder lining. About 3 out of 4 (75%) bladder cancers are of this early type when they are diagnosed. You may hear this early cancer called Ta or T1 bladder cancer. Or your doctor may tell you that you have carcinoma in situ or CIS. This is also known as Tis.

These early bladder cancers can often be cured or controlled with minor surgery or treatment into the bladder. The low grade or grade 1 early bladder tumours are more likely to be cured. Moderate or high grade (grades 2 or 3) early bladder tumours are more likely to come back and need further treatment. Taking all superficial bladder tumours together, about 50 to 70 out of every 100 (50 to 70%) will come back. But most of these will recur as early non-invasive bladder cancer. About 10 to 30 out of every 100 early bladder cancers (10 to 30%) will come back as more serious disease.

Most Ta tumours are low grade. About 5 out of 10 stage Ta early bladder cancers (50%) will come back. But most of these will come back again as superficial tumours that can be nipped out again. Fewer than 1 in 10 (10%) will come back as an invasive cancer and need more serious treatment.

Most T1 early bladder cancers are higher grade. These are more likely to go on to develop into an invasive cancer. As many as half (50%) will develop into invasive cancer if they aren’t treated. For this reason, you are more likely to have further treatment into your bladder after having bladder cancer tumours removed.

Invasive Bladder Cancer

About 1 in 5 bladder cancers (20%) have grown into the muscle layer of the bladder when they are diagnosed. These are called invasive bladder cancers. About 1 in 2 of those diagnosed with T2 invasive bladder cancer (50%) are alive and well 3 years after their diagnosis. Unfortunately, treatment is less successful for tumours that have grown further into the bladder. About 1 in 4 of those with a T3 tumour (25%) will be alive and well 3 years after diagnosis and treatment.

In the UK specialists use either surgery to remove the bladder or radiotherapy. The treatments generally work equally well. The choice often depends on what you prefer and what your specialist recommends.

Surgery or radiotherapy will cure many of these cancers. But the rest will come back and need more treatment. Doctors cannot usually tell which cancers are likely to come back and which are likely to be cured. One of the most important factors is how far the cancer has grown into the wall of the bladder. For instance, a stage T3 or T4 cancer is more likely to come back than a stage T2 cancer.

To try to reduce the number of cancers that come back, you may have chemotherapy (through your vein) as well as surgery or radiotherapy. In several large clinical trials, chemotherapy before surgery did lower the risk of recurrence for high risk invasive bladder cancers and improved outcomes slightly. Clinical trials are continuing to look into the addition of chemotherapy to radiotherapy for bladder cancer in the UK.

Advanced (metastatic) bladder cancer
This is bladder cancer that has spread to another part of the body. About 1 in 20 bladder cancers (5%) has already spread by the time it is diagnosed. Like most cancers, the outlook once a cancer has spread is not so good. Only about 1 in 10 people with bladder cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes will live for more than 5 years after their diagnosis.

Unfortunately, if your cancer has spread to another body organ, such as your lungs, liver or bones, your cancer is not going to be curable. But you can still have treatment to try to keep it under control for a while. And to help control any symptoms you may be having. Once a cancer has spread in this way, the average life expectancy is between a year and 18 months. Remember, this is an average and many people will live longer than that.

How reliable these statistics are

No statistics can tell you what will happen to you. Your cancer is unique. The same type of cancer can grow at different rates in different people for example.

The statistics are not detailed enough to tell you about the different treatments people may have had. And how that treatment may have affected their prognosis. Chemotherapy may help people to live longer as well as relieving symptoms. There are many individual factors that will determine your treatment and prognosis. If you are fit enough to have treatment, you are likely to do better than average, particular if your cancer is more advanced.