Increase Cure Rate with Bladder Preservation in Cancer

For Release: November 3, 1999

Radiation, Chemotherapy, Conservative Surgery Increase Cure Rate with Bladder Preservation in Cancer Patients

A Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) clinical study has shown preliminarily that conservative surgery plus radiation and outpatient chemotherapy may increase the rate of bladder preservation in bladder cancer patients without decreasing the cure rate.

Results of the bladder cancer clinical trial were presented November 3 at the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting in San Antonio, TX by William U. Shipley, M.D. Dr. Shipley is chairman of genitourinary oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Radiation Oncology, Boston, MA.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the safety, tolerance and effectiveness of selective bladder preservation after local surgery plus radiation and chemotherapy given at the same time. A total of 34 patients with muscle-invading bladder cancer comprised the study group.

"We are encouraged that after two years 71 percent of the patients survived with an intact bladder," Dr. Shipley said. He said that the treatment was "moderately" well-tolerated, with the major problem being damage caused by lowering the blood cell counts.

Specifically, the study involved the use of transurethral surgery plus chemotherapy (cisplatin-5 fluouracil) and altered fractionation twice-daily radiation to treat the bladder cancer patients.

Dr. Shipley noted that researchers need to study patients over a longer period of time to be sure of the efficacy of the combination treatment.

RTOG is a federally funded cancer clinical trials group, with headquarters in Philadelphia, PA, which carries out multi-disciplinary research in North America. It is a clinical research component of the American College of Radiology. For more details about RTOG clinical trials contact Timothy McKeough at 215-574-3205.

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