On Aug. 3, 2009, Researchers at Stanford’s School of Medicine announced they had identified the first human bladder cancer stem cell and revealed how it works to escape the body’s natural defenses.

There are two main types of bladder cancer: one that invades the muscle around the bladder and metastasizes to other organs, and another that remains confined to the bladder lining. Unlike the more-treatable non-invasive cancer — which comprises about 70 percent of bladder cancers — the invasive form is largely incurable.