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stage III bladder cancer

(... BLA-der KAN-ser)
Stage III is divided into stages IIIA and IIIB. In stage IIIA, cancer (1) has grown all the way through the bladder muscles and bladder wall into the layer of fat surrounding the bladder and may have spread to the reproductive organs (prostate, seminal vesicles, uterus, or vagina) but has not spread to lymph nodes; or (2) has spread to one lymph node in the pelvis that is not near the major arteries in the pelvis, called the common iliac arteries. In stage IIIB, cancer has spread to more than one lymph node in the pelvis that is not near the common iliac arteries or to at least one lymph node that is near the common iliac arteries.
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Two-panel drawing showing stage IIIA bladder cancer in a male (left panel) and a female (right panel); both panels show cancer in the bladder and in (a) the layer of fat around the bladder and (b) one lymph node in the pelvis. Also shown are the right and left common iliac arteries, the prostate (left panel), and the uterus (right panel).Enlarge this image in new window
Stage IIIA bladder cancer. Cancer (a) has grown all the way through the bladder muscles and bladder wall into the layer of fat around the bladder and may have spread to the prostate and/or seminal vesicles in men or the uterus and/or vagina in women but has not spread to lymph nodes; or (b) has spread to one lymph node in the pelvis that is not near the common iliac arteries.
Two-panel drawing showing stage IIIB bladder cancer in a male (left panel) and a female (right panel); both panels show cancer in the bladder and in (a) more than one lymph node in the pelvis that is not near the common iliac artery and (b) one lymph node near the common iliac artery. Also shown are the right and left common iliac arteries, the prostate (left panel), and the uterus (the right panel).Enlarge this image in new window
Stage IIIB bladder cancer. Cancer has spread to (a) more than one lymph node in the pelvis that is not near the common iliac arteries; or (b) at least one lymph node that is near the common iliac arteries.
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