Bladder cancer

DavidRM

Ive found out my stage IV regional prostate cancer has moved to my bladder. I have 3 lymph nodes involved and now my bladder. Has anyone been in a similar situation? I'm wondering if I'm worse now

GregP_WN

David, I'm sorry for your situation and the increased involvement. I know it's a bad number, but stage IV is still, just a number. I have been stage I, II, III, IIIB, never a IV. But, we have a lot of people on the site that were diagnosed as stage IV and told that they didn't have much time. Years ago that was, and they are still with us today doing very well. Someone with more personal experiences will help.

Doogie

I was stage IV and didn't know it. I didn't think I was a IV because I was actually told that I was only II. I went all the way through a course of treatments and had a scan. After the scan I just happened to think to ask my doctor to tell me again what stage I was. She said a IV because of nodes that were found and that my cancer was found in other places besides my head. Still, it made no difference, I'm doing the same treatments that I would have if I was only a 1, and I'm progressing well. I hope you move right through treatments and do great!

JaneA

There are lots of us Stage IV survivors here on WhatNext. I was Stage IV at diagnosis for rectal cancer. My only symptom was rectal bleeding.

I had extensive pelvic lymph node involvement. Even after strong chemo and 28 sessions of radiation, my pathology report after surgery showed that 6 of my 8 remaining lymph nodes (radiation has destroyed the other lymph nodes) were still positive for cancer. So I had six more rounds of strong chemo. That five years ago, and I am still NED (No Evidence of Disease).

It's a shame the lack of communication that you experienced.

carm

Hello, I am an oncology nurse and although you were staged as a IV it is more likely III-IV because of the close proximity of the spread to regional lymph nodes; so your disease is locally advanced. And...everyone here is totally correct, staging just is not as important as it used to be years ago. It is done to.satisfy treatment options according to the NCCN guidelines. It is the grade that matters...not the stage. Best of luck to you.

DavidRM

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer.. Carm, when you said grade that matters did you mean Gleason? And I think it turns out my bladder was damaged during radiation. Least thats what they said looks like now. Urinalysis came back negative for high grade cancer in bladder. My Gleason score is a 9 (4+5)

carm

When I refer to the grade it is bot the Gleason score. It is How aggressive your cancer is...slow or fast growing. If you are not high grade then that is good. Moderate is in the middle and of course the least worry is the low grade.

c1a1c1

What type of test is run to determine the grade?

carm

@c1c1c1,
Great question...let me explain. When you are staged based on the Gleason score, you are also graded. The grade is determined by the pathology results. The pathologist can determine the cells grade based on how they look or the differentiation. The more the cancer cells look like the organ they arose from (like bladder or prostate cells), the less aggressive the cancer is or considered low grade. If the cells are highly undifferentiated, then they are much more mutated and therefore much more aggressive or considered a high grade. The middle ground is moderately undifferentiated...a mixture of both. Treatments are usually based on the grade and the type of mutation when targeted therapies are used. I hope this helps to answer your question.