The incidence of bladder cancer Is increasing. Only in Italy, despite holding a record among men, has an increase also been recorded among women, as stated on Republic. Precisely for this reason, prevention with periodic screening is very important to discover the disease promptly, before metastases occur. With regard to the treatment of this form of cancer, positive news has arrived from overseas in the meantime. The FDA has in fact approved gene therapies in the treatment of bladder cancer.
This new weapon, as he reports Le Figaro, represents something innovative, having been authorized for the first time outside of clinical trials. “This is a real breakthrough that will allow bladder cells to produce the drug on their own, a more effective way than injection into the bloodstream or instillation into the bladder“, he claims Yann Neuzilletprofessor of urology at the Foch hospital in Suresnes.
Therapies against BCG resistance in bladder cancer
To date in the treatment of cancer the bladder was resorted to BCG bacterium (Bacillus Di Calmette and Guerin), i.e. the tuberculosis bacterium. It is used as intravesical immunotherapy in the management of non-invasive bladder cancer. Often though, it has proved ineffective in most patients, and patients with this form of cancer developed disease recurrence and progression within a year of treatment. This is why it is urgent to find a therapy that allows the body to react in case of resistance to BCG. In this sense, the new gene therapy, based on a non-replicating adenovirus vector containing the interferon alfa-2b gene, enters the cells of the bladder wall, releasing an active gene which is then ‘captured’ by the cells’ DNA. This results in a DNA sequence causing cells to secrete high amounts of interferon alfa-2b, a natural protein that the body uses to fight cancer. In practice, the body’s natural defenses against cancer would be strengthened, with an effectiveness that has been tested on more than 50% of patients.
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