Staging Of Bladder Cancer

Staging of bladder cancer - The doctor will prescribe you a treatment. For this he must know:
from which type of cells the tumor is created

• how aggressive these cells are
• what the stage of the disease is

The stage indicates how much the disease has expanded in the body. The doctor sets the staging of bladder cancer. He/she investigates for this:

• the place and size of the tumor
• or and how far the tumor has grown into the tissue around it
• whether there are sores in the lymph nodes and/or organs elsewhere in the body

With the staging of bladder cancer classification, the doctor estimates the prospects and advises a treatment.



Cancer Staging TNM format
The TNM stage indicates how much the disease has expanded in the body. The doctor is doing research to determine the TNM classification:

• T of tumor: the size of the tumor and/or the tumor has grown into the tissue around it
• N node that is English for lymph node: whether there are sores in the lymph nodes
• M of metastasis or sowing: whether there are sores in organs elsewhere in the body

The letters are divided by numbers. Each cancer type has its own TNM format.

Staging of bladder cancer
In bladder cancer, the T from the TNM format is subdivided into five stages as follows:
Stage 0: the tumor is superficial and grows only in the mucosa (urothelium).
Stage 1: the tumor is still superficial, but it is already growing in the connective tissue layer under the mucosa (not yet in the muscle layer)
Stage 2: the tumor also grows in the muscle layer.
Stage 3: the tumor also grows in the surrounding fat tissue.
Stage 4: The tumor grows in nearby organs or tissue structures, such as the prostate, uterus, vagina, pelvic wall or abdominal wall.

At N + there are tumor tumors in the lymph nodes. At N, there are no tumor transmissions in the lymph nodes.

At M + there are tumor outbreaks in other organs or in the bones. At M- there are no metastases in other organs or in the bones.

In non-muscle infarct bladder cancer, the disease is in stage 0 or 1. In muscle infarction bladder cancer, the disease is in stage 2 or higher.

Differentiation
Healthy (stem) cells can develop into different types of cells. This is called differentiation or outreach. By differentiation, a cell gets the features and functions that the cell needs. For example, cells rip into red blood cells, muscle cells or nerve cells.

Cancer cells appear to a greater or lesser extent on healthy cells. The differentiation rate of a tumor indicates how strongly the cancer cells differ from the healthy cells. This degree of differentiation says something about the speed of parts, and something about the behavior of the tumor and the prospects. Another word for differentiation is tumor degradation.
A pathologist determines the differentiation of the tumor. He does this by examining the cancer cells under the microscope.



Bladder cancer grading
Malignant tumors are usually classified into 3 grades:
Grade I: The cancer cells are well differentiated. This means that the tumor cells to a large extent resemble healthy cells of the organ in which they originate. The cancer cells usually grow slowly. Grade I is also called low grade.
Grade II: Cancer cells are moderately differentiated, They seem less and less healthy on healthy cells. The cancer cells usually grow faster than normal cells and stick together quickly. Grade II is also called intermediate.
Grade III: The cancer cells are poorly differentiated. They almost do not resemble healthy tissue. These cancer cells almost always grow much faster than normal cells. Grade III is also high grade.

There is also a Grade IV: these are undifferentiated cells. These are no longer in the healthy cells.

Some types of cancers use a different format to indicate tumor differentiation. Doctors use the bladder cancer grading for the choice of treatment.

*Image source : Medical Assessment

References :

1. National Cancer Institute
2. Kanker.nl
3. American Cancer Society