Long-term benefit of combining chemotherapy and radiotherapy in bladder cancer

Medical Xpress / Institute of Cancer Research / European Urology ^ | August 2, 2022 | Emma Hall et al

[ConservativeMind]

Giving people with bladder cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the same time helps stop cancer from coming back.

The findings demonstrate the benefit of combining chemotherapy and radiotherapy to reduce the risk of the disease returning is maintained over 10 years.

Treating bladder cancer often involves surgery to remove the bladder—known as a cystectomy. However, patients are often too unwell to undergo surgery and it can lead to serious side effects, usually resulting in patients wearing a drainage bag to collect urine.

Combining radiotherapy and chemotherapy is an alternative treatment, cutting the risk of recurrence and sparing patients from invasive surgery.

The research team looked at how many people were still living 10 years after treatment. They found 30% who had chemoradiation were still alive, compared with 26% of those who had radiotherapy alone.

Researchers looked at whether cancer returned to the bladder or pelvic nodes. Outcomes were significantly better in the chemoradiation group: 63% of people treated with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy did not see their cancer return after five years, compared with 49% of people treated with radiotherapy alone.

Researchers also reported fewer "salvage cystectomies"—removal of the bladder after failed treatment—in the chemoradiotherapy group. After five years, 14% of people treated with chemoradiotherapy had to undergo a salvage cystectomy, compared with 22% of people treated with radiotherapy only.

Professor Nick James said: "The latest data shows the benefit of adding chemotherapy to radiotherapy for invasive bladder cancer is maintained in the long term. Overall, patients who received the combination are still doing better than those who only received radiotherapy, and we can conclude that combining both treatments helps stop bladder cancer from coming back. Adding chemotherapy to radiotherapy is the best option for people who can't have, or want to avoid, an operation to remove their bladder."

[ConservativeMind]

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[dearolddad]

A little over three years ago I underwent both chemo and a radition therapy called protn beam therapy at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California.

As of this date I am still bladder cancer free.

[I-ambush]

Unfortunately, often patients who cannot tolerate cystectomy also are not able to tolerate chemotherapy.