If you've been diagnosed with bladder cancer, you might have questions about the severity of the cancer and how much time you have. The likely outcome or course of a disease is called "prognosis" .4,5
The prognosis for bladder cancer depends on many factors4:
Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer can often be cured.1 Its prognosis also depends on the following:
If your cancer is expected to respond well to treatment, your healthcare provider will describe your prognosis as favorable. This suggests you are anticipated to live many years and may potentially be cured. On the other hand, if your cancer is expected to be challenging to control, your prognosis may be less favorable. The cancer may shorten your life. It's important to note that a prognosis indicates what is likely or probable, not a definitive prediction of outcomes. Healthcare providers cannot guarantee any outcome with absolute certainty.4,5
Doctors determine bladder cancer prognosis using statistics gathered over many years from people with bladder cancer. One commonly used statistic for making a prognosis is the 5-year relative survival rate. Survival rates show how many people live for a certain length of time after being diagnosed with cancer.4
The 5-year relative survival rate indicates the percentage of people with the same type and stage of bladder cancer who are alive 5 years after their diagnosis, compared to the overall population.6
For instance, the 5-year relative survival rate for localized bladder cancer (Stage I or Stage II) is 71%. This means that individuals diagnosed with localized bladder cancer have a 71% likelihood of being alive 5 years after diagnosis, compared to someone in the general population who are of the same age and sex and who does not have bladder cancer. Another way to think about this is that if 100 individuals were diagnosed with localized bladder cancer, we would expect 71 of them to be still alive after 5 years.6
Because survival statistics are derived from large groups of people, they cannot predict precisely what will happen in your case. Your doctor understands your individual situation best and is most qualified to discuss these statistics and your prognosis with you. When reviewing survival statistics, it's important to consider the following6:
