The report was well worth reading too

This was the report and it's "sort of" OK - these are the sorts of things that are pretty good reading if you read it one way and not so good if you read it another way. May I suggest you read as I would in an optimistic fashion - thank you:


"Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is an effective conservative treatment for managing patients with Stage T1 high-grade bladder cancer, say investigators. In their study of 78 patients with the condition, who were initially treated by transuretheral resection (TUR), adjuvant BCG was effective in around two thirds of individuals.

"TUR alone is associated with a high rate of recurrence and progression to muscle invasion and is clearly not curative in 40% to 60% of patients," note David Margel (Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tiqwa, Israel) and colleagues."Early cystectomy, although offering the best chance of cure, would probably constitute overtreatment in many cases. Consequently, most urologists favor initial TUR of all visible tumor and adjuvant intravesical treatment.

"The researchers investigated the long-term outcome of patients with Stage T1 high-grade transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder who received TUR followed-by intravesicle BCG. Patients received initial 6 weekly instillations of BCG, with half of the patients receiving at least a further seven monthly instillations. Among the 78 patients treated, 34 (44%) were still alive after a median follow-up of 107 months (range 16 to 238 months).

Among the 44 patients who died, 32 died from causes other than bladder cancer. A total of 27 (35%) patients experienced a recurrence of their condition. Most recurrences occurred in the first year after treatment, at 55%. Progression was seen in 14 (18%) patients, 12 of whom died from their disease. The team reports in the journal Urology that the overall 2-, 5-, and 10-year recurrence-free survival rates following treatment were 76%, 72%, and 62%, respectively.

The corresponding rates for progression-free survival were 92%, 82%, and 80%.The disease-free survival rates were 99% at 2 years, 90% at 5 years, and 85% at 10 years."BCG is an effective conservative treatment of patients with Stage T1 high-grade bladder cancer," the researchers conclude.

They add: "More than one half the recurrences appeared within the first year, but a small risk remains throughout the patient's life."Progression during follow-up appears to carry a high risk of cancer-specific death."


Free abstract: http://dmail.organon.com/cgi-bin2/DM/y/nhga0MyNmI0MUM0Bbu10Eg


MedWire: Urology