Genetic variations in the inflammation pathway may predict who would respond to Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin (BCG) treatment and who might experience a recurrence among patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.
"Our goal is to use genetic information like this to create a genetic blueprint for this disease, which currently recurs in about 70 percent of patients despite initial successful therapy," said Xifeng Wu, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study and a professor in the department of epidemiology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where the research was conducted.Hushan Yang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at M. D. Anderson and the first author of this study, and colleagues evaluated a panel of 59 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 35 major inflammation genes in all participants that had been treated with BCG therapy, the current treatment standard for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.
If a patient had a genotype containing the variant allele of the iNOS gene, there was a significant reduction in the risk of recurrence compared with those patients who did not have this variance.
"Survival associated with this variance was 96.7 months compared with 47.0 months among patients with the wild-type gene," Yang said.
Urinary Infection
Bacterial infection of urinary bladder can cause pain and burning sensation while passing urine. Abnormal Vesico-ureteric reflex, due to which the urine goes back to the kidneys from the bladder is also known to cause infection.
Bacterial infection of urinary bladder can cause pain and burning sensation while passing urine. Abnormal Vesico-ureteric reflex, due to which the urine goes back to the kidneys from the bladder is also known to cause infection.
"These genes can be measured through simple blood tests," said Wu. "Once we identify the patients at high risk for recurrence we can adjust their therapy and followup accordingly."
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Anatomy of Urinary System
Animation & slides showing anatomy of urinary system and the role of kidneys in getting rid of the waste products and excess fluid from our body to keep us healthy.
Animation & slides showing anatomy of urinary system and the role of kidneys in getting rid of the waste products and excess fluid from our body to keep us healthy.
SRM
