Definition

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.