Bladder Cancer Diagnosis

Our pathologists go beyond stage and location to analyze your cancer on a molecular level to determine exactly what’s driving it so we can figure out how best to stop it. Your bladder cancer is unique, and your treatment plan should be, too.

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University has a team of radiologists and pathologists dedicated solely to genitourinary cancers, meaning they are experts in bladder cancer diagnosis and staging. That’s important because the stage of your disease indicates how far it has spread through the wall of the bladder and whether it has spread to other parts of the body. Stage and location play a critical role in determining whether your cancer can be treated without removing your bladder.

If you have blood in your urine or other symptoms and your physician suspects bladder cancer, he or she will order tests to detect, analyze and stage your disease. At Winship, we take a multi-stage approach to ensure that every patient gets a thorough and accurate bladder cancer diagnosis. Because no two bladders are the same, no two bladder cancers are the same. Even cancers in the same stage and location will differ from one patient to another. That’s why it’s imperative we understand your cancer to treat it properly.

We know you’re anxious to move forward with treatment but getting a full and precise bladder cancer diagnosis is critical, and it won’t take long, we promise. Here’s what your diagnostic journey could look like:

Lab testing. At Winship, we use a urine sample test called cytology, during which our pathologists spin down urine and then analyze it under a microscope to examine it for cancer cells.

Cystoscopy. During this test, a physician inserts a thin, lighted scope called a cystoscope through the urethra to examine the lining of the bladder. At Winship, we occasionally use a new technology called enhanced cystoscopy or blue light cystoscopy that uses chemical fluorescence to highlight small, otherwise hard-to-see tumors that often get missed in regular cystoscopy. During this procedure, your physician can collect a sample of the tumor (biopsy) to be tested for cancer in a lab.

Diagnostic imaging. To determine whether and where bladder cancer may have spread, your physician will order a special kind of computed tomography (CT) or MRI scan. We’ll look at the entire urinary tract — from the kidneys to the urethra — for tumors or lesions.

Molecular pathology. If your tumor is determined to be cancerous, our molecular pathologists will conduct genomic profiling to look at the DNA inside your tumor to identify any genetic mutations and biomarkers, or cell characteristics. Winship scientists, genomic and tumor sequencing experts will analyze what’s driving your particular bladder cancer, and then work with your doctors to determine which types of treatment are most likely to work best against it.