AVOIDING SURGERY
ANCHOR LEAD:TRYING TO AVOID BLADDER REMOVAL IN BLADDER CANCER MAY NOT BE HELPFUL, ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS
Bladder removal has long been a mainstay of treatment for more advanced bladder cancer, but is a difficult surgery with consequent lifestyle issues. But a new study seems to conclude that attempts to treat the disease with chemotherapy instead of removing the bladder haven’t been successful. Arthur Burnett, a urologist at Johns Hopkins, interprets the findings.
BURNETT: It turns out that this form of management may not be that acceptable or successful. Many of the patients who were initially monitored went on to have cystectomies, and it was found that really 60% who thought they were cleared of their disease by this so-called neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cytoscopic resection really failed that and many of those patients who went forward really had very extensive disease . Perhaps more than half the patients altogether had disease that was uncontrolled by this form of therapy. :26So for now, it appears that removing the bladder offers the best chance for long term survival from some types of bladder cancer. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.
