Skip to content News Health & Medicine It’s tricky to transplant a bladder. How surgeons finally did it The team had to navigate deep in the abdomen and tackle a tangle of delicate blood vessels The first successful bladder transplant in a human was done at the University of Southern California as part of a clinical trial for a new treatment option to patients with terminal bladder disease. Nick Carranza, UCLA Health By Payal Dhar 20 seconds ago The first successful human bladder transplant could offer hope for people with bladder problems. On May 4, 2025, Oscar Larrainzar, 41, became the first human to successfully receive a bladder transplant. The surgery was part of a clinical trial developed to demonstrate the feasibility of bladder transplants in patients with terminal bladder diseases. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be about 85,000 new cases of bladder cancer in 2025 in the United States, resulting in about 17,400 deaths, making it the 10th leading cause of cancer death in the country. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.