Bladder Cancer Survival Rates

The 5-year survival rate refers to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 years after their cancer is found. Of course, many people live much longer than 5 years. Five-year relative survival rates don't count patients dying of other diseases. This means that anyone who died of another cause, such as heart disease, is not counted.

These numbers provide an overall picture, but keep in mind that every person's situation is unique and the statistics can't predict exactly what will happen in your case.

Stage	Description	5-year relative survival rate
T-0	Superficial cancer. Cancer cells are only found in polyps on the surface of the inner lining of the bladder. Lymph nodes are not involved. No evidence of metastatic spread.	95%
T-is/T-a	Carcinoma in situ. Cancer cells are found only in flat lesions on the surface of the inner lining of the bladder. Lymph nodes are not involved. No evidence of metastatic spread.	90%-95%
T1	Cancer cells are found deep in the inner lining of the bladder but have not spread to the bladder muscle. Lymph nodes are not involved. No evidence of metastatic spread.\	85%
T2a/T2b	Cancer cells have spread to the muscle of the bladder. Lymph nodes are not involved. No evidence of metastatic spread.	65%-75%
T3	Cancer cells have spread through the muscular wall of the bladder into tissue surrounding the bladder, such as the prostate in men or the uterus or vagina in women. Lymph nodes are not involved. No evidence of metastatic spread.	30%-65%, depending on the size of the cancer deposits present in the tissues next to the bladder and whether the cancer has spread to nearby organs.
T4a	Cancer has spread to nearby regions: prostate, vagina or uterus	Same as above.
T4b	Cancer is found in the wall of the abdomen or the wall of the pelvis. May have spread to the lymph nodes. May have spread to other parts of the body.	10%-15%
Recurrent	Cancer has come back (recurred) after treatment, either in the original site or in another part of the body.

Physicians and labs also use a set of notations for staging the lymph node involvement and level of metastasis, or spreading, of the cancer cells (TNM Staging). If you have access to that report, you might ask your physician to translate these numbers to your own specific case.