‘Breakthrough’ claim in treatment for bladder cancer

SUFFERERS of bladder cancer may not need to undergo chemotherapy in the future, after scientists made the first significant breakthrough in 30 years in their search for an effective treatment.

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer for men in Ireland and the 12th most common for women, with around 700 new diagnoses every year.

About 10% of these are advanced, which makes it very difficult to treat, with chemotherapy the only option.

On average, patients live for 12 to 18 months following diagnosis. But experts from Queen Mary University in London have found that an antibody allows cancer cells to be picked up by the immune system and destroyed before they can spread.

In the first clinical trial, 68 people with advanced bladder cancer were given a drug called MPDL3280A, after all other treatment options had failed.

The results, published in the journal Nature, were so good that the drug was given ‘breakthrough’ designation status by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which means that further clinical trials can be fast-tracked.

Dr Tom Powles, lead author of the research and consultant medical oncologist, said: ‘This study is a hugely exciting step forward in the search for alternative and effective advanced bladder cancer treatment.

‘For decades chemotherapy has been the only option, with a poor outcome and many patients too ill to cope with it.’

He added: ‘We now lead larger trials to confirm our findings, and as this drug has been given breakthrough designation status by the FDA, we hope to fast-track this process so we can begin to give hope to the thousands of people affected by advanced bladder cancer each year.’

Men are twice as likely to develop bladder cancer as women, with smoking thought to be responsible for 50% of all cases.