Posted on 01/27/2024 8:30:10 AM PST by ConservativeMind
Researchers have discovered that a certain type of chemotherapy improves the immune system's ability to fight off bladder cancer, particularly when combined with immunotherapy.
These findings may explain why the approach, cisplatin chemotherapy, can lead to a cure in a small subset of patients with metastatic, or advanced, bladder cancer. Researchers also believe that their findings could explain why clinical trials combining another type of chemotherapy, carboplatin-based chemo, with immunotherapy have not been successful but others that use cisplatin with immunotherapy are successful.
"We have known for decades that cisplatin works better than carboplatin in bladder cancer, however, the mechanisms underlying those clinical observations have remained elusive until now," said Matthew Galsky, M.D.
"This study provides clues as to why cisplatin-based chemotherapy may achieve durable disease control in a subset of patients with metastatic bladder cancer, provides clues as to which patients may derive such benefit, and provides a foundation for building even better treatment regimens that exploit the immunomodulatory effects of cisplatin-based chemotherapy."
Bladder cancer affects about 83,000 people in the United States annually. Metastatic bladder cancer is particularly hard to cure with current treatments, so these findings are an important step to most effectively use the drugs available and determine effective combination therapies.
The study found that cisplatin chemotherapy may work better when the body has generated a pre-existing, but restrained, immune response against the tumor. The study further found that cisplatin damages DNA in cancer cells, which may lead to changes in expression of genes that might improve the ability of the body's immune system to detect cancer cells.
This research was part of a large team science effort that used biospecimens from an international Phase III clinical trial involving multiple institutions.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Cisplatin is poison, negatively affects every system in your body. And I do mean every system. After three rounds with is, my kidneys only function at 50% of what they used to. Add to that, it’s been well over a year and things are still just getting closer to being normal. Use only as a last resort and at your own risk.
Ping for Dave
I don’t know what was used for my husband’s bladder cancer but it worked and the urologist had every faith that it would...I was with him for every treatment but it’s been awhile and I don’t remember the name of the treatment except the cystoscopy he had every now and then to see if the chemo was working.
The chemo was non-invasive so he never suffered any after effects...he thought he did and should as he heard the word “chemo” but he didn’t. He wasn’t able to roll around as prescribed after a treatment to move the medication around in the bladder as he had severe COPD but he came through the treatment ok but sadly couldn’t fight the COPD tho’ he gave it his best. He was pronounced clear of cancer after about 2 years of the treatment.
The urologist and his wife who worked with him and I talked politics while he, my husband was having his treatments...I’m not married to the medical profession by any means - reject most everything about it - but in GA we found most if not ALL professionals in the medical field to be Christian and conservative! Even my cardiologist who is Jewish is a Christian. The urologist was also Jewish.
And...after 2 years, you die of a different cancer, usually the lungs, which means suffocation and drowning...
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