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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Cancer / September 2004Bladder Cancer - papillary recurrence
I had surgery for bladder cancer in summer 2003 and it was removed and the doctor told me it was a papillary type and was likely to recur, but unlikely to become fatal. It came back in February and again this September. Each time, the doctor removed it. I'm waiting for the latest biopsy, but the doctor thinks that a BCG treatment might be good. He told me it might be helpful, but has some major side effects for some people, and could even be fatal. Has anyone had this type of treatment and how did it go? He told me I'd need about 6 treatments, once a week. Any other suggestions? Thank you. > I had surgery for bladder cancer in summer 2003 and it was removed and the > doctor told me it was a papillary type and was likely to recur, but unlikely [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I'd need about 6 treatments, once a week. Any other suggestions? Thank > you. I had surgery (TUR) for superficial bladder cancer summer 2000, the tumor invaded the lamina propria but not the muscle layer, see http://pathology2.jhu.edu/bladder_cancer/types_ca.cfm It looks like that mine was somewhat more advanced than yours; the books say that if left untreated chances or recurrence are 80% or more. 1 month after surgery I got the BCG treatment, once a week for 6 weeks (induction). After that I have been on BCG maintenance, which involves once a week for 3 weeks. The first year maintenance BCG was every 3 months, years 2 and 3 every 6 months, and now I am down to once a year. I am really blessed in that the tumor has not returned; I consider myself a survivor but I am still under surveillance and BCG maintenance So from my perpective: By all means, go for it as BCG treatment reduces chances of recurrence dramatically Since yours was less invasive than it was in my case BCG maintenance may not be necessary; you should ask your urologist about that. How did it go? A suspension of BCG is instilled in the bladder, and it has to stay there for 2 hours before voiding. It causes an immune reaction, i.e. irritation of the bladder wall. Unpleasant, but it subsides after a day or so. I my case the initial treatment with BCG did not cause much discomfort at all, but over the course of the maintenance treatments the effects tend to get more severe. My urologist follows Dr Lamm's protocol see http://blcwebcafe.org/ http://blcwebcafe.org/drlammsprotocol.asp http://www.immucyst.com/files/27-S1-95/s1p2-8.pdf good luck > I had surgery for bladder cancer in summer 2003 and it was removed and the > doctor told me it was a papillary type and was likely to recur, but unlikely [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I'd need about 6 treatments, once a week. Any other suggestions? Thank > you. Hello Jacob, I see that Jan's already replied to you. Most of the bladder cancer posters seem to go to http://blcwebcafe.org/ which connects (on the sidebar) to ACOR list serv. (it says "email discussion list") You're welcome to stay here too if you wish, but I try to put cancer patients in touch with others with same cancer. I don't think we've had many bladder cancer patients here in the past year or so. Best wishes with your treatment. J >I had surgery for bladder cancer in summer 2003 and it was removed and the >doctor told me it was a papillary type and was likely to recur, but unlikely [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >I'd need about 6 treatments, once a week. Any other suggestions? Thank >you. The hazard from BCG treatment is superinfection. That tends to happen with patients with immune system problems (and most forms of chemotherarpy do considerable damage to the immune system). So if you have not had chemotherapy for the original cancer, your immune system is likely intact, and absent some other system disease like HIV, super infection is very low probability event. Other thing to be aware of is after BCG treatment, you will always have positive skin tests for TB... > >doctor thinks that a BCG treatment might be good. He told me it might be > >helpful, but has some major side effects for some people, and could even be > >fatal. > The hazard from BCG treatment is superinfection. That tends to happen > with patients with immune system problems (and most forms of > chemotherarpy do considerable damage to the immune system). It appears to me that you are exaggerating the potential risk. Up to now I underwent 30 BCG treatments without any ill effect <quote> High-grade fever, septicaemia and hepatitis or pulmonary granulomas are reported in <1% of all cases of BCG therapy (vaccination, immunotherapy in bladder cancer) </quote> http://qjmed.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/94/12/719 Both cases reported in that article had a favorable outcome after therapy with ofloxacin |
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