Expert answers to common questions about bladder cancer.

BCG Treatment for Bladder Cancer and Hepatitis
Dear OncoLink "Ask the Experts," I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1990, and had two transuretheral removals of tumors. After the second recurrence I received BCG treatment and had good results. This year I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. A friend of mine, who is receiving the BCG treatment directed me to OncoLink Web site where

BCG Treatment for Bladder Cancer
Dear OncoLink "Ask the Experts," I am presently being treated with a drug named BCG for bladder cancer. The drug is placed into the bladder once a week for six weeks. The instructions make the material seem contaminating. Why does this material need to be treated so carefully?   Thank you, TF John Han-Chih

BCG for Bladder Tumors in Dogs
Dear OncoLink "Ask The Experts," Do you have any information on using BCG to reduce the size of bladder tumors in dogs? Lili Duda, VMD, Section Editor of the OncoLink Veterinary Oncology Menu, responds:BCG, or bacillus Calmette-Guerin is a bacterial vaccine that is a non-specific immunomodulator--in other words, it generally stimulates the

News related to the diagnosis, treatment and side effect management in bladder cancer.

"Never Events" Rare After Bladder Cancer Surgery
Apr 5, 2013 - "Never events", ten hospital-acquired conditions deemed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as being reasonably preventable, are rare in patients with bladder cancer who have undergone radical cystectomy, according to a study published in the March issue of Urology.

Gene Variants in RGS Linked to Bladder Cancer Outcomes
Mar 26, 2013 - For patients with bladder cancer, genetic variants in the regulator of G-protein signaling pathway are associated with risk, recurrence, progression, and death, according to a study published online March 25 in Cancer.

Low-Risk Bladder Cancer Rarely Progresses to Muscle Invasion
Mar 6, 2013 - Low-risk bladder cancer rarely progresses to muscle invasion but is associated with an increased risk of disease-specific mortality compared with matched populations, according to research published in the March issue of The Journal of Urology.

Reviews of presentations at professional meetings related to bladder cancer.

SWOG 8710 (INT-0080): Randomized Phase III Trial of Neoadjuvant MVAC+Cystectomy Versus Cystectomy Alone in Patients With Locally Advanced Bladder Cancer
Presenter: R.B. Natale Affiliation: SWOG Background: Radical cystectomy has been the gold standard for the treatment of locally advanced bladder cancer. However, 50-60% develop recurrent or metastatic disease after cystectomy. It has been hypothesized that neoadjuvant therapy for advanced bladder cancer will 1)immediately treat

Long-Term Survival Following Immunization with BEC2 Plus BCG after Initial Therapy for Small Cell Lung Cancer
Sylvie Négrier, M.D., associate professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Centre Leon Berard (Lyon, France), presented the results of another study demonstrating the effects of interferon, as well as another cytokine, interleukin-2, in advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). According to Dr. Négrier, despite the large number of

Selective Bladder Preservation by Combined Modality Treatment of Invasive Bladder Cancer: 10 Year Outcome
Presenter: W. U. Shipley Affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital BackgroundThe standard of care for muscle invasive bladder cancer is radical cystectomy +/- adjuvant chemotherapy with or without radiation. However, to improve quality of life in these patients, there is much interest in bladder-conserving therapies, using transurethral

NCI CANCERLIT^® Search: Diagnosis-Histopathology-Pathogenesis of Bladder Cancer - October 2001
Differences in gene expression in muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a comparison of Italian and American patients. Prognostic significance of histopathological grading and immunoreactivity for p53 and p21/WAF1 in grade 2 pTa transitional...

NCI CANCERLIT^® Search: Diagnosis-Histopathology-Pathogenesis of Bladder Cancer - September 2001
Table of Contents[Carcinoma in situ in the urinary bladder]Municipal drinking water nitrate level and cancer risk in older women: the Iowa Women's Health Study.[Differences in survival of patients with bladder cancer depending on depth of...

NCI CANCERLIT^® Search: Therapy of Bladder Cancer - October 2001
Risk factors of urethral involvement of bladder cancer after radical cystectomy with orthotopic neobladder in females. Treatment of metastatic urothelial cancer in the post-MVAC era. The role of adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced...