A new treatment for bladder carcinoma is being developed by the JRC and Munich’s Technical University hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar. Recently, the first in-human tests have been conducted showing positive results.
Bladder
cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract. Carcinoma in
situ (CIS) is an aggressive form of the tumour located at the surface
of the bladder and represents about 10% of all cases. The standard
therapy for CIS consists of surgical resection of the main tumour mass
followed by intravesical immunotherapy.
Targeted alpha therapy
uses an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody that
specifically binds to bladder carcinoma cells but not to healthy cells.
The antibody is labelled with the short lived alpha emitter (an isotope
of bismuth - 213Bi) and instilled in the bladder for 90 minutes. The
high energy and very short range (less than 0.1 mm) of the emitted alpha
radiation leads to a very effective and selective killing of the tumour
cells while sparing surrounding healthy bladder tissue.
Within the last 12 months, six patients that had failed all standard
treatments were treated with this new therapy. In three patients the
tumor was eradicated following a single treatment, and the patients'
bladders were preserved. No signs of toxicity or side effects were
observed. In the other three cases, residual tumor was still detectable
after the treatment. Increasing the applied dose or number of
treatments is expected to further improve the therapeutic success rate.
Patient recruitment for further tests is currently ongoing.
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