Bladder Cancer
(Cancer of the Urinary Bladder)
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
- What is the bladder?
- What are the layers of the bladder?
- What is bladder cancer?
- What is the burden of bladder cancer in the U.S.?
- What are the types of bladder cancer?
- What are bladder cancer causes and risk factors?
- What are bladder cancer symptoms and signs?
- How is bladder cancer diagnosed?
- How is bladder cancer staging determined?
- What is bladder cancer grading?
- What is transurethral surgery or "TURBT" for bladder cancer?
- What is the treatment for superficial bladder cancer?
- What is surveillance for bladder cancer?
- What is the treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer?
- What is chemotherapy for bladder cancer?
- What is the prognosis for bladder cancer?
- Can bladder cancer be prevented?
- Where can people find more information on bladder cancer?
- What research is being done on bladder cancer?
- Bladder Cancer At A glance
- Patient Comments: Bladder Cancer - Effective Treatment
- Patient Comments: Bladder Cancer - Share Your Experience
- Find a local Oncologist in your town
What is the bladder?
The urinary bladder, or the bladder, is a hollow organ present in the pelvis. Most of it lies behind the pubic bone of the pelvis but when full it can extend up into the lower part of the abdomen. Its primary function is to store urine that drains into it from the kidney through tube-like structures called the ureters. The ureters from both the kidneys open into the urinary bladder. The bladder forms a low-pressure reservoir which gradually stretches out as urine fills into it. In males, the prostate gland is located adjacent to the base of the bladder where urethra joins the bladder. From time to time, the muscular wall of the bladder contracts to expel urine through the urinary passage (urethra) into the outside world.
What are the layers of the bladder?
The bladder consists of three layers of tissue. The innermost layer of the bladder which comes into contact with the urine stored inside the bladder is called the "mucosa" and consists of several layers of specialized cells called "transitional cells," which are almost exclusively found in the urinary system of the body. These same cells also form the inner lining of the ureters, kidneys, and a part of the urethra. These cells form a waterproof lining within these organs to prevent the urine from going into the deeper tissue layers.
The middle layer is a thin lining known as the "lamina propria" and forms the boundary between the inner "mucosa" and the outer muscular layer. This layer has a network of blood vessels and nerves and is an important landmark in terms of the staging of bladder cancer (described in detail below in the bladder cancer staging section).
The outer layer of the bladder comprises of the "detrusor" muscle and is called the "muscularis." This is the thickest layer of the bladder wall. Its main function is to relax slowly as the bladder fills up to provide low-pressure urine storage and then to contract to compress the bladder and expel the urine out during the act of passing urine. Outside these three layers is a variable amount of fat which lines and protects the bladder like a soft cushion and separates it from the surrounding organs such as the rectum and the muscles and bones of the pelvis.
Next: What is bladder cancer?
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