Bladder cancer (BC) is the fourth most common cancer in men. Approximately a quarter of diagnosed cases of BC are characterized by the presence of invasion of the muscle layer of the organ (muscle-invasive BC), the treatment of which is usually associated with radical cystectomy. In 2022, the new 5th edition of the World Health Organization classification of tumors of the urinary system and male genital organs was presented. The new edition provides a comprehensive approach to the classification of BC, taking into account clinical, morphological and molecular genetic data.

The aim of the study is to highlight the main updates of the latest WHO classification of bladder tumors (2022) and to develop a pathology reporting standard for radical cystectomy specimens by adapting international check-lists and recommendations (CAP, ICCR).

Materials and methods. We analyzed the literature in the scientific databases PubMed and Web of Science. The following keywords were used for the search: bladder, cystectomy, pathology report, urothelial tumor, stage, molecular subgroups, WHO 2022.

Results. In this literature review, we proposed a standardized protocol for the pathologic examination of radical cystectomy specimens, taking into account the updates of the WHO classification of tumors of the urinary and male genital systems (2022) and described its components in detail.

Conclusions. Professional pathologic evaluation of BC radical cystectomy specimens is crucial for further treatment and prognosis. Knowledge of the updates of the 5th edition of the WHO tumor classification (2022) should be implemented in the daily clinical practice of a pathologist, in particular, by using the proposed pathology reporting standard for the BC radical cystectomy specimens.