Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in American men, affecting two-thirds as many men as women. Of the roughly 50,000 people diagnosed with the disease each year, most have highly treatable, superficial malignancies. But in about 10,000 cases, the cancer is advanced and life-threatening with a survival rate of 50 to 60 percent. The protocol targets patients with this invasive cancer. Candidates for the protocol must first undergo bladder surgery to remove as much of the cancer as is safely possible.
Treatment involves intensive radiation to the bladder to eradicate any possible residual cancer.
At the same time chemotherapy is administered to increase the likelihood of destroying remaining tumor cells. If the cancer recurs, patients still have the option of a cystectomy. The current protocol is a refinement of radiation and chemotherapy techniques which have been in clinical trial for 10 years. With such promising data, Hagan expects the option soon will be offered more widely to patients. When Harris, the owner of a small insurance company, was diagnosed with invasive bladder cancer four months ago, he grappled with the prospect of losing his bladder.