The National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) introduced yesterday a new therapy that can effectively reduce recurrences of bladder cancer while limiting harmful side effects.
"Over the past four years, we have treated 50 patients with the new approach," said Pu Yeong-shiau (
The normal recurrence rate of bladder cancer stands at around 50 percent within two years of removal.
In the new treatment, named MDP intravesical combination chemotherapy, three anticancer agents are introduced into the bladder after the removal of the tumor, Pu said.
Nationally, around 1,500 people contract bladder cancer every year and about 600 people die of the disease annually, according to the Department of Health.
Seventy percent of bladder tumors are superficial, which means the cancer is lying on the surface of the bladder's walls and can be scraped off. In these cases, transurethral bladder tumor resection is used to remove the tumor.
The operation is referred to as "transurethral" because it is performed through the urethra, Pu said.
Patients undergoing the operation can keep their bladders, however, 30 percent of bladder tumors become invasive, meaning the cancer has grown into the walls of the bladder.
In those cases, the bladder needs to be removed, Pu said.
MDP intravesical combination chemotherapy is applied to patients who have undergone transurethral bladder tumor resection and still have their bladders.
The most commonly used method to reduce recurrences is called intravesical BCG [Basillus Calmette-Guerin] therapy, Pu said.
At present, BCG is the most proven and effective agent to reduce recurrences of bladder cancer and can reduce the recurrence rate to 40 percent, Pu said.
However, according to Pu, although BCG therapy is highly effective, it also causes serious side effects.
"Ninety percent of patients taking BCG therapy experience urinary problems such as continued pain and burning, frequency, blood or blood clots in the urine," Pu said.
"Nearly 50 percent of the patients also suffer flu-like symptoms. Some even have serious complications such as tuberculosis and prostate tuberculosis," Pu said.
In MND intravesical combination chemotherapy, three anticancer agents, mitomycin-C, doxorubicin and cisplatin are instilled into patients' bladders after the removal of the tumor.
"We instill 30mm of mitomycin into the bladder 24 hours after removal of the tumor to kill the remaining cancer cells. The patient discharges the agent when he or she urinates," Pu said.
"One week later, we instill 30mm of doxorubicin. Another week later we instill 30mm of cisplatin," Pu said.
Eight cycles of the treatment are required to complete the therapy, which takes three years in all.
"If a recurrence does not take place during the three years, it is very unlikely the cancer will return" Pu said.
"The cost of MND intravesical combination chemotherapy is much lower than BCG therapy," Pu added.
Pu also gave tips to prevent bladder cancer.
"Don't smoke. Don't dye your hair or use too much cosmetics or nail polish -- those are cancer-triggering substances. Don't eat too much fried food or pickled vegetables," Pu said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods