SAN FRANCISCO—Conventional treatments for bladder cancer may be inappropriate in elderly patients because of underlying age-related functional impairment and comorbidities, according to a medical oncologist.

Intravesical instillation of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is most effective in the long term when selected as initial prophylactic treatment to prevent recurrence of superficial bladder cancer, according to a Japanese study.

Counting copies of a specific gene in cells gathered from a urine sample may provide a simple, noninvasive way to detect bladder cancer, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

CONSUMING CULTURED milk products may decrease the risk of bladder cancer, according to Swedish researchers.

NARROW-BAND imaging (NBI) cystoscopy improves detection of recurrent non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors over standard white-light imaging (WLI) cystoscopy, according to a report in BJU International (2008; published online ahead of print).

WITH UPPER tract transitional cell carcinoma (UT-TCC), vigilance is the watchword. Detecting this cancer earlier may directly impact patient survival. According to the American Cancer Society, 54,390 new cases and 14,100 deaths in the United States will occur during 2008. Up to 15% of all kidney cancers are UT-TCC. NMP22 BladderChek Test (Matritech) is approved by the FDA in the detection of bladder cancer.

Eur Urol. 2008;54:402-408The UroVysion (UV) assay, which can diagnose urothelial cancer, cannot replace cystoscopy for monitoring patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. According to researchers in Sweden, the assay may be useful as a supplement to traditional measures for detecting carcinoma in situ (CIS).

WATER INTAKE may be associated with a slightly reduced risk of bladder cancer, especially in women, a study suggests.

SAN DIEGO—Serum autoantibody profiling may provide a novel non-invasive diagnostic tool for bladder cancer, according to researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center in Madrid.

SAN FRANCISCO—Intravesical gemcitabine may be a safe and effective treatment for superficial bladder cancer, data suggest.