Combining cisplatin-based intra-arterial chemotherapy and radiotherapy is effective long-term for local invasive bladder carcinoma, according to a Japanese study.

CHICAGO—Intravesical gemcitabine is an effective and well tolerated adjuvant local chemotherapy in patients with superficial bladder cancer, according to researchers in Algeria.

Combining cisplatin-based intra-arterial chemotherapy and radiotherapy is effective long-term for local invasive bladder carcinoma, according to a Japanese study.

A study of Swedish men with BPH found no excess risk of bladder cancer, but did show that the likelihood of the malignancy is elevated in those who undergo transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), especially men with comorbid genitourinary tract conditions.

BERLIN—Long-term prophylaxis with mitomycin C (MMC) significantly decreases the risk of tumor recurrence compared with short-term prophylaxis with MMC or bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, according to German researchers.

THE SENSITIVITY of the UroVysion DNA urinary test is too low to be considered an alternative to cystoscopy in the follow-up of patients with superficial bladder cancer, according to researchers in Sweden.

ALTERED EXPRESSION of four apoptosis biomarkers may enable more accurate outcome predictions in patients with bladder cancer and identify those who could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.

A 10-year follow-up study of patients with high-risk bladder cancer shows that mitomycin C (MMC) and bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) have similar effects on disease progression, need for subsequent treatment, and survival.

BLADDER CANCER is projected to be the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in 2007 and the eighth most common cause of cancer-specific death in men, according to the American Cancer Society. Approximately 70% of bladder tumors present as non-muscle invasive (NMI) disease and 10%-20% will progress to muscle invasion.

A principal reason for poor outcomes among bladder cancer patients is metastatic disease during follow-up. With currently available drugs, metastatic disease to other solid organs is only curable in less than 10% of patients, according to Virginia urologist Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD.