Biopsy for the Bladder
Sampling tissue
For patients with suspected bladder cancer, it is important to obtain tissue to confirm the presence of cancer, the type of cancer, and how deep the cancer has grown. This is usually done in the operating room through a procedure called Transurethral Resection of Bladder Tumor (TURBT).
Sometimes before this procedure, your doctor will slip a thin, flexible tube inside your bladder. The tube, called a cystoscope, is equipped with a miniature camera that allows your doctor to examine the lining of your bladder.
You will be prescribed antibiotics before the procedure to control any risk of infection. You may feel some soreness for a few days and notice blood in your urine. Complications from transurethral bladder biopsy are rare.
Most people go home on the same day of the procedure. Sometimes, a urinary catheter will be left in place for one to a few days as you recover.
Pathology: Analyzing bladder biopsies
After you have a biopsy, your nurse sends your tissue samples to our pathologists for review. A pathologist is a medical doctor who specializes in reviewing and evaluating lab tests, cells, and tissues to diagnose disease. Our pathologists analyze biopsy samples to determine whether the tissue is cancerous and, if so, what type of bladder cancer it is. This evaluation by the pathologist can take up to a week.
At the Stanford Bladder Cancer Program, our pathologists specialize in bladder cancer. That focus means they have extensive expertise interpreting bladder biopsies and other tests to confirm or rule out a bladder cancer diagnosis.
Because bladder cancer represents a complex group of different diseases, it’s important to have expert pathologists on your care team. Years of experience studying bladder cancer every day means your pathologist can accurately identify critical details. This information includes whether the cancer:
- Is invasive or noninvasive
- Shows a high or low cell grade or Gleason score (rating that describes how different the cancer cells are from normal cells)
- Is aggressive or slow growing
- Contains molecules that indicate the cancer subtype
All these details help form an accurate diagnosis, which is vital to your treatment plan. Your care team takes the time to do a thorough evaluation from the start, so that your treatment will be more effective.
Bladder tumor tissue bank
Our doctors and researchers work to thoroughly understand the true diversity of bladder cancer and identify the genetic abnormalities that can play a role in bladder cancer formation. That’s why it’s critical that our doctors have access to tissue samples to plan for each patient’s care.
At Stanford, we store bladder tissue samples so we can use them for research, using the following process:
- Before we perform tissue sample, we will ask you if we may keep a small portion of the sample with our tissue bank. Our top priority is to confirm your diagnosis. Only a tiny portion of excess tissue is shared for research.
- If you approve, the excess tissue then goes to bladder cancer research specialists. These doctors work with our clinicians (doctors involved in patient care) to identify new pathways of tumor formation and possible treatments.
Our bladder tumor bank provides our doctors and other researchers with a variety of different types of bladder cancer cells to study. As we work on new methods and tools for diagnosing and treating bladder cancer, our goal is to move these findings from the lab into patient care.
Stanford Health Library
For confidential help with your health care questions, contact the Stanford Health Library. Professional medical librarians and trained volunteers can help you access journals, books, e-books, databases, and videos to learn more about medical conditions, treatment options, and related issues.
- 875 Blake Wilbur Drive, Palo Alto: First floor near the cafe, 650-736-1960
- South Bay Cancer Center: 2589 Samaritan Drive, third floor lobby, 408-353-0197
Email us your questions: healthlibrary@stanfordhealthcare.org
Current as of: 2/2020
Stanford Health Education, 2020