National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center, a program of the National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences

Bladder cancer


Not a rare disease Not a rare disease
Subtypes:

Bladder cancer is a form of cancer that occurs due to abnormal and uncontrolled cell growth in the bladder. Signs and symptoms of the condition may include abdominal pain, blood in the urine, fatigue, painful urination, frequent urination, incontinence, and/or weightloss. Most cases of bladder cancer occur sporadically in people with no family history of the condition. Risk factors for the condition include smoking, exposure to certain chemicals, and having chronic bladder infections. Treatment varies based on the severity of the condition and may include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and/or biological therapy.[1][2]
Last updated: 11/11/2015

This table lists symptoms that people with this disease may have. For most diseases, symptoms will vary from person to person. People with the same disease may not have all the symptoms listed. This information comes from a database called the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) . The HPO collects information on symptoms that have been described in medical resources. The HPO is updated regularly. Use the HPO ID to access more in-depth information about a symptom.

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Medical Terms Other Names
Learn More:
HPO ID
Percent of people who have these symptoms is not available through HPO
Autosomal dominant inheritance 0000006
Somatic mutation 0001428
Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder 0006740
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Last updated: 7/1/2020

FDA-Approved Treatments

The medication(s) listed below have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as orphan products for treatment of this condition. Learn more orphan products.


If you need medical advice, you can look for doctors or other healthcare professionals who have experience with this disease. You may find these specialists through advocacy organizations, clinical trials, or articles published in medical journals. You may also want to contact a university or tertiary medical center in your area, because these centers tend to see more complex cases and have the latest technology and treatments.

If you can’t find a specialist in your local area, try contacting national or international specialists. They may be able to refer you to someone they know through conferences or research efforts. Some specialists may be willing to consult with you or your local doctors over the phone or by email if you can't travel to them for care.

You can find more tips in our guide, How to Find a Disease Specialist. We also encourage you to explore the rest of this page to find resources that can help you find specialists.

Healthcare Resources


These resources provide more information about this condition or associated symptoms. The in-depth resources contain medical and scientific language that may be hard to understand. You may want to review these resources with a medical professional.

Where to Start

In-Depth Information

  • Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) is a catalog of human genes and genetic disorders. Each entry has a summary of related medical articles. It is meant for health care professionals and researchers. OMIM is maintained by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 
  • Orphanet is a European reference portal for information on rare diseases and orphan drugs. Access to this database is free of charge.
  • PubMed is a searchable database of medical literature and lists journal articles that discuss Bladder cancer. Click on the link to view a sample search on this topic.

Questions sent to GARD may be posted here if the information could be helpful to others. We remove all identifying information when posting a question to protect your privacy. If you do not want your question posted, please let us know.


  1. How is bladder cancer staged?. American Cancer Society. February 25, 2015; http://www.cancer.org/cancer/bladdercancer/detailedguide/bladder-cancer-staging. Accessed 10/30/2015.
  2. Bladder Cancer–for patients. National Cancer Organization. http://www.cancer.gov/types/bladder. Accessed 10/30/2015.