New advice provides cancer hope

SIGN said some patients should be given chemotherapy before surgery

Survival rates for bladder cancer patients could be improved by a new way of treating sufferers.

Under the new approach specialists have been advised to start people with the disease on chemotherapy to prepare them for radiotherapy or surgery.

Research suggested that this approach improved the survival rate at five years by about 5%.

Patients who smoke will also be told they must stop to maximise their chances of recovering.

The new advice has been issued by the NHS watchdog, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network.

It said patients who have invasive cancer, and who are suitable, should be given chemotherapy before their surgery or radiotherapy.

There are lifestyle links with this cancer, as smoking causes over half of cases Dr Graham Howard Cancer consultant

Bladder cancer - affecting almost 1,000 patients per year - is the fifth most common form of the illness in men and the 15th most common in women.

Smoking is thought to multiply the risk of bladder cancer by up to three times and scientists believe it causes more than half the cases.

Cancer expert Graham Howard, of the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, said: "We've looked at the risks and benefits of surgery compared to radiotherapy for advanced or invasive cancer.

"We found that the current lack of evidence on superiority means treatment choices should be tailored to what is best for each patient, importantly patient preference.

'Lethal' disease'

"We do need more research on a cancer that can be lethal and where informed recommendations are essential to treatment progress."

The consultant added: "There are lifestyle links with this cancer, as smoking causes over half of cases.

"But patients who have smoked and receive surgery for invasive disease can reduce the risk of immediate post-surgical problems if they stop."

A simple test which measures the level of the enzyme telomerase in urine could be used effectively to detect bladder cancer, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggested in October.

The Italian researchers said their test proved to be around 90% accurate.