Mitomycin C (MMC) appears to be the best option, with a recent meta-analysis finding no difference in disease recurrence compared with BCG (RR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.81-1.11).
What is mitomycin therapy for bladder cancer?
It involves long-term periodic BCG treatments after the initial treatments. It is beneficial in reducing the chance that bladder cancer cells will regrow. Mitomycin is the drug most often prescribed for intravesical chemotherapy.
Which chemotherapy agents fall short of the BCG threshold?
Chemotherapeutic agents mitomycin, gemcitabine and epirubicin uniformly fall short of BCG when evaluated in well-designed, randomized controlled studies.
Is optimized MMC an alternative to intravesical chemotherapy?
When faced with a shortage of a less-effective form of BCG (TICE), optimized MMC is likely an excellent alternative. Finally, intravesical chemotherapy is not the only additional therapy to consider.
Does intravesical BCG reduce the risk of tumour recurrence?
The data from the present meta-analysis indicate that tumour recurrence was significantly reduced with intravesical BCG compared to MMC only in the subgroup of patients at high risk of tumour recurrence. However, there was no difference in terms of disease progression or survival, and the decision t …
Is BCG better than chemo?
BCG is most commonly used in intravesical immunotherapy for NMIBC and appears to be more effective than intravesical chemotherapy in preventing tumor recurrence and progression. Especially for those with high-risk NMIBC, BCG immunotherapy is considered as a gold-standard treatment (29).
Is BCG the best treatment for bladder cancer?
The combination of BCG and TURBT is the most effective treatment for high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. BCG is given once a week for six weeks, starting 2–4 weeks after TURBT surgery.
How effective is mitomycin for bladder cancer?
Overall mortality was 21.5% in patients treated with BCG/mitomycin C, compared with 32.4% for those treated with BCG only. Mortality caused by bladder cancer occurred in only 5.6% of patients treated with BCG/mitomycin C, compared with 16.2% of patients treated with BCG only.
What is the success rate of BCG treatment for bladder cancer?
This method of treatment is considered a form of immunotherapy, which is an emerging form of cancer treatment. The success rate for BCG treatment for bladder cancer is about 90%, which is considered the best life-saving rate by any treatment.
What is the most effective treatment for bladder cancer?
Chemotherapy for the whole body (systemic chemotherapy), to increase the chance for a cure in a person having surgery to remove the bladder, or as a primary treatment when surgery isn't an option. Radiation therapy, to destroy cancer cells, often as a primary treatment when surgery isn't an option or isn't desired.
Can BCG treatment damage the bladder?
The most common complications associated with BCG treatment are relatively minor. They include urinary frequency, cystitis, fever, and hematuria. Although serious complications are rare, patients can develop severe, life-threatening sepsis with disseminated mycobacterial infection.
What is the difference between mitomycin and Mitomycin-C?
Mitomycin-C and MTC are other names for Mitomycin. In some cases, health care professionals may use the trade name Mutamycin or other names Mitomycin-C and MTC when referring to the generic drug name Mitomycin. Drug type: Mitomycin-C is an anti-cancer ("antineoplastic" or "cytotoxic") chemotherapy drug.
How long does mitomycin stay in bladder?
Your treatment Mitomycin is a chemotherapy drug that aims to kill any cancer cells that may have remained in your bladder after surgery. The drug itself stays in your bladder for one to two hours and is then drained out through the urinary catheter, or leaves your bladder when you pass urine.
How long is BCG treatment for bladder cancer?
BCG is in a liquid solution that is put into the bladder with a catheter. The person then holds the solution in the bladder for two hours before urinating. The treatment is usually given once per week for six weeks, starting approximately two to three weeks after the last TURBT.
What is the best chemo for bladder cancer?
Cisplatin-based chemotherapy has been the best standard treatment for bladder cancer since the 1970's. Based on the results of clinical trials from the 1990s, the two regimens most commonly used are dose-dense (DD) MVAC and GC. Chemotherapy goes into the body through a vein.
Can bladder cancer come back after BCG treatment?
“Initially, it's effective,” says medical oncologist Noah Hahn, M.D. However, adds urologist Max Kates, M.D., “while up to 35 percent of patients have long-term, sustained remissions with intravesical BCG, as many as 60 percent of patients will have a recurrence of cancer within two years.
What if BCG does not work for bladder cancer?
At the other end of the spectrum, failure to respond to BCG in high-risk T1 bladder cancer and/or carcinoma in situ (CIS or TIS) is more problematic, since those tumours often have the potential to progress to muscle invasion. In these cases, radical cystectomy remains the mainstay after BCG failure.
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What is the procedure to remove bladder cancer?
Even after the doctor removes the tumors, the cancer can return. In this case, the doctor will put medicine into the bladder to destroy cancer cell. This is called intravesical therapy . The two most commonly used drugs for this purpose are MMC and BCG.
What is intravesical therapy?
This is called intravesical therapy. The two most commonly used drugs for this purpose are MMC and BCG. Both drugs have been studied for many years. They both show good results when compared to other treatments. They have not been studied using the schedule that will be used in the study.
How many cycles of BCG induction?
Patients will receive a induction course of 6 cycles of weekly intravesical therapy of either BCG, followed by a maintenance schedule consisting of 3 weekly cycles of the same drug at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months.
How many cycles of MMC?
Patients will receive a induction course of 6 cycles of weekly intravesical therapy of MMC, followed by a maintenance schedule consisting of 3 weekly cycles of the same drug at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months.
How to learn more about a study?
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Is MMC better than old standard?
A recent study showed that a new dose of MMC is better than the old standard dose. Since the side effects of MMC occur less often, it is important to learn whether the two drugs are equally effective. That could help us decide between the treatments.
How does intravesical therapy work?
When drugs are directed to the cells that line the inside of the bladder, they can attack the cancer growing there without causing damaging effects to the rest of the body. 1 Intravesical therapies are typically recommended for people who have non-muscle invasive bladder cancer or who have an increased risk of disease recurrence after surgery. 2
What is the drug that kills bladder cancer cells?
Mitomycin is a type of chemotherapy. Mitomycin is the drug most often prescribed for intravesical chemotherapy. Mitomycin is a cytotoxic antibiotic that inhibits DNA synthesis in bladder cancer cells. 2 This means that it attacks and kills active cancer cells and impedes their ability to grow and replicate.
What is the objective of TURBT?
The objective of quickly following up a TURBT with intravesical therapy is to kill any cancer cells that may remain in the bladder following surgery. 1 Cancer cells beyond the bladder lining are not impacted by intravesical therapy. There are two common treatment approaches used in intravesical therapy, and they each have different benefits ...
What is the treatment for bladder cancer?
They are both intravesical therapies, meaning that they are treatments that are delivered in liquid form directly into the bladder through a catheter, rather than by mouth or through an IV line. The confusion between the two is understandable since the experience of receiving either of these treatments is very similar!
How long does it take to remove a tumor from the bladder?
It is generally done quickly, between 6 and 24 hours post-procedure. The objective of quickly following up a TURBT with intravesical therapy is to kill any cancer cells ...
How long is intravenous chemotherapy effective?
Intravesical chemotherapy is most often used when intravesical immunotherapy has not been effective. It is rarely used for more than one year. 1
Is mitomycin used in immunotherapy?
One option is to use the drug in the normal way. Another form of the treatment is called electromotive mitomycin therapy, whereby the inside of the bladder is heated. 1,4 This treatment approach has been demonstrated to have improved effectiveness. Intravesical chemotherapy is most often used when intravesical immunotherapy has not been effective.