Bladder cancer consists of the malignant transformation of the cells lining the inner surface of the bladder itself, i.e., the organ that collects urine filtered by the kidneys before being eliminated from the body.
Bladder cancer accounts for about 3 percent of all cancers and, in urology, is second only to prostate cancer.
It is most common between the ages of 60 and 70 and is three times more common in men than in women. At diagnosis, bladder cancer is superficial in 85 percent of cases, infiltrating in 15 percent. According to data from the Cancer Registry, there were an estimated 27,000 cases of bladder cancer in Italy in 2017, considering both infiltrating and superficial forms.
