Stages of bladder cancer

If you have bladder cancer, you might be told it’s at a certain stage. This describes whether or not the cancer it has spread to other parts of your body, and where it has spread to. Knowing the stage of the cancer helps you and your doctors to decide on the best treatment for you.
Doctors may also use numbers from 0 to 4 to describe the stage of bladder cancer, however, this is not used as commonly.

• Stage 0: The cancer is in the inner layer of the bladder lining
• Stage 1: The cancer has grown through the inner lining of the bladder into the connective tissue beneath, but not into the muscle layer yet
• Stage 2: The cancer has grown into the thick muscle wall of the bladder 
• Stage 3: The cancer has grown through the muscle into the fat layer and may have spread to nearby organs (vagina, prostate or womb) and lymph nodes
• Stage 4: The cancer has spread to other parts of the body 

With all stages of bladder cancer, there is plenty of treatment and support that can help you, including traditional medicine and practices like ceremony and being on Country.