Bladder cancer occurs when cells in the bladder start to grow without control. The bladder is a hollow, balloon-shaped organ in the lower part of the abdomen that stores urine.
The bladder has a muscular wall that allows it to get larger to store urine made by the kidneys and to shrink to squeeze urine out of the body. There are two kidneys, one on each side of the backbone, above the waist. The bladder and kidneys work together to remove toxins and wastes from your body through urine:
- Tiny tubules in the kidneys filter and clean the blood.
- These tubules take out waste products and make urine.
- The urine passes from each kidney through a long tube called a ureter into the bladder.
- The bladder holds the urine until it passes through a tube called the urethra and leaves the body.
