Safer, Better Treatment for Bladder Cancer

After 30 years of research, the treatment of bladder cancer may be about to change. Clinical trial results for a new drug, Urocidin, are promising, according to researchers.

A clinical trial testing the use of the drug Urocidin indicates that the medication may be the new, safe and most effective method for treating bladder cancer. The study found that 25 per cent of patients became disease-free after one year of therapy with the drug. They also suffered few side effects.

Urocidin may become a better bladder cancer treatment.

In a recent large North American clinical trial, Urocidin was found to be not only effective but much safer than other options for treating superficial bladder cancer that doesn't respond to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy. BCG therapy is the most common and widely used treatment for bladder cancer.

Lead researcher Dr. Alvaro Morales, professor emeritus in the Department of Urology at Queen's University and director of the Queen's University Centre for Applied Urological Research says he's optimistic about these initial results. He adds that similar results in the next phase of testing will result in a far more effective treatment for bladder cancer treatment.

Morales collaborated with the Cancer Research Institute of New York in the 1970s to develop BCG therapy. And while BCG is effective against solid tumors and remains the first line treatment, the therapy has potentially very serious side effects.

According to the National Cancer Institute, 70,530 people were diagnosed with and 14,680 died of cancer of the urinary bladder in 2010.

Urocidin was developed by Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. A second Phase III clinical trial is under way, funded by Bioniche’s licensing partner, Endo Pharmaceuticals.