If we can get the same results for patients without cystectomy, it's worth looking into. An added benefit of this approach is that it would yield more tissue samples for molecular research aimed at finding new treatments for the serious disease, he said. DeVere White's suggested protocol for newly-evaluated patients with invasive bladder cancer calls for a transurethral resection surgery to remove the bladder tumor, followed by additional surgeries to monitor cancer cell growth. A transurethral resection is a lessor-invasive surgery using a special instrument with a small wire loop that cuts or burns away cancerous tissue. Subsequent steps would depend on whether tissue samples test negative or positive for additional cancer.
Adjuvant chemotherapy is suggested to further improve chances of survival.
Cystectomy would remain an alternative. DeVere White bases his observations on new research from investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and other institutions that indicate transurethral resection with adjuvant therapy gets the same results as removing the bladder. The approach has been offered to patients at the UC Davis Cancer Center for many years. A clinical study of cystectomy versus chemotherapy is expected to start at the cancer center in the fall. Earlier this year deVere White presented his findings at the 48th annual James C. Kimbrough Urological Seminar in San Diego.