The American Cancer Society's most recent estimates for bladder cancer in the United States are for 2012:
- About 73,510 new cases of bladder cancer diagnosed (about 55,600 in men and 17,910 in women).
- About 14,880 deaths from bladder cancer (about 10,510 in men and 4,370 in women).
The rates of new cancers and of cancer deaths have been fairly stable over the past 20 years. More than 500,000 people in the United States are survivors of this cancer.
Bladder cancer occurs mainly in older people. About 9 out of 10 people with this cancer are over the age of 55. The average age at the time of diagnosis is 73.
Men are about 3 times more likely to get bladder cancer during their lifetime than women. Overall, the chance men will develop this cancer during their life is about 1 in 26. For women, the chance is about 1 in 86. (The risk for a particular person may be higher or lower, based on risk factors such as whether or not they smoke.) Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in men.
Whites are diagnosed with bladder cancer almost twice as often as blacks. Hispanics have an even lower rate than blacks.
In about half of all cases, patients are first diagnosed with bladder cancer while it is still confined to the inner layer of the bladder (non-invasive or in situ cancer). About 35% have bladder cancer that has invaded into deeper layers but is still contained in the bladder. In most of the remaining cases, the cancer has spread to nearby tissues outside the bladder. Rarely (in about 4% of cases), it has spread to distant sites. Black patients are slightly more likely to have more advanced disease when they are diagnosed, compared to whites.
Survival rates for bladder cancer are discussed in the section, "Survival rates by stage."
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