Urothelial Carcinoma

Urothelial cancer, or bladder cancer, is the 10th leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Bladder cancer is more common in men than women. The American Cancer Society’s estimates for bladder cancer in the United States for 2025 are:

About 84,870 new cases of bladder cancer (about 65,080 in men and 19,790 in women), and about 17,420 deaths from bladder cancer (about 12,640 in men and 4,780 in women). The chance that any woman will die from bladder cancer is about 1 in 333 (about 0.3%), and the chance that any man will die from bladder cancer is about 1 in 125 (about 0.8%).

Bladder cancer death rates have been stable for decades, and recently decreased by 1% per year since 2013. The decrease in death rates is believed to be the result of finding bladder cancer earlier through increased awareness and better treatments.

There are several types of bladder cancer, but the most common diagnosis in patients with bladder cancer is urothelial carcinoma, also known as transitional cell carcinoma.

Although transitional cell, or urothelial cancer, is the most common type of bladder cancer, some individuals will be diagnosed with other rarer types of bladder cancer. As described by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, or BCAN:

Muscle invasive vs non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

How quickly a cancer spreads is a concern, and bladder cancers are defined by how far they have spread, and whether they have reached deeper levels of the bladder and beyond. Invasive bladder cancers are more difficult to treat, as they often grow further into the walls of the bladder and beyond.

Non-invasive bladder cancers are discovered in the inner layer of cells, and they have not grown further into the deep layers of the bladder. They are easier to treat because they haven’t spread. Two other descriptors of bladder cancer are superficial, or non-muscle invasive. Both can be used to describe a cancer that is non-invasive, and one that is invasive, but hasn’t spread into deeper layers of the bladder muscle yet.

Rare types of bladder cancer

Squamous cell carcinoma

Of all the bladder cancer cases discovered in the United States, squamous cell carcinoma is only 1% to 2% of the cases. If you look at the cells under a microscope, they are similar to skin cells found on the surface of your skin.

Adenocarcinoma

Like squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma bladder cancer makes up roughly 1% of all bladder cancer cases. The cancer cells of adenocarcinoma are similar to the gland-forming cells found in colon cancers

Small cell carcinoma

With origins in the neuroendocrine cells, small-cell carcinomas are rare and make up less than 1% of all bladder cancers. This is a fast-growing cancer, and chemotherapy is a common treatment of this type of bladder cancer.

Sarcoma

Sarcomas are a rare type of bladder cancer that originates in the muscle cells of the bladder.