Your GP may then send you to see a specialist doctor (a urologist) at a local hospital. There are NHS cancer referral guidelines to help GPs decide who may need to see a specialist, and how quickly.

At hospital you are likely to have some or all of these tests:

Cystoscopy

This test lets your hospital doctor look at your bladder through a long, flexible instrument called a cystoscope, which is passed up through the urethra. The doctor can also take some small samples of tissue (biopsies) to be looked at under a microscope later.

Ultrasound scan

This test uses sound waves to build a picture of the inside of the body. You lie on your back while a device like a microphone is passed over your abdomen. The sound waves make pictures on a computer screen.

Intravenous urogram (IVU)

This is an X-ray of the kidneys, ureters and bladder. To make the picture clearer, a liquid called contrast medium is injected into a vein before the X-ray is taken.

Larger tissue samples

If your doctor thinks you may have invasive bladder cancer he or she will need to get some larger samples of tissue to examine. The doctor gets the samples through a long, flexible instrument called a cystoscope, which is passed up through the urethra (you have an anaesthetic for this). It can cause some bleeding, and urine will have to be drained from your bladder through a tube (called a catheter) for a day or two afterwards.

If you do have invasive bladder cancer your doctor will arrange a CT or MRI scan to find out whether the disease has spread.

Computerised tomography (CT or CAT scan)

This is a type of X-ray that creates a picture of the inside of the body. You lie on a couch which then passes through a large, hollow ring.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MR or MRI scan)

This is like a CT scan but it uses a magnet and radio waves, not X-rays, to make the picture. You lie on a couch inside a long chamber while the pictures are taken.