Hackensack University Medical Center Offering Intravesical Chemotherapy for Persistent Noninvasive Bladder Cancer
Oncologists among the first in New Jersey to offer this less invasive treatment
Urologic oncologists at Hackensack University Medical Center are among the first in New Jersey to offer "intravesical chemotherapy" for bladder cancers that have continued to grow despite initial treatment and have not yet invaded the bladder wall. Intravesical treatment involves giving the anticancer drugs gemcitabine and docetaxel directly into the bladder to bathe the bladder lining and kill cancer cells on contact. This approach may spare as many as half of patients with persistent non-muscle invasive bladder cancer from cystectomy — surgical removal of the bladder—without the side effects associated with intravenous chemotherapy.
"We think of cystectomy – a huge operation that requires complex urinary tract reconstruction – as a last resort now," explained Nitin Yerram, M.D., co-director of Urologic Oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Peter Kahan, 76, was interested in a treatment that could possibly spare him from a cystectomy. He became the first patient at Hackensack University Medical Center to receive intravesical chemotherapy in 2023. The retired high school physics teacher was first diagnosed with high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in February 2019, and when the cancer came back after initial treatment, his doctor told him he would need a cystectomy.
Mr. Kahan had recently reconnected with a former high school student of his, Ravi Munver, M.D., and learned that he was now a urologist. Mr. Kahan came to Hackensack University Medical Center, where Dr. Munver is vice chair of Urology and chief of Minimally Invasive and Robotic Urologic Surgery. Dr. Munver treated him with Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG), a form of immunotherapy that has been used for decades, plus the medication interferon.
When the tumor returned again, Mr. Kahan and Dr. Munver discussed gemcitabine and docetaxel, an intravesical treatment that had a 50-50 chance of sparing him from cystectomy. "I felt like it was worth a try," he noted. He began receiving his weekly treatment in February.
"We're one of the lucky few centers who can call ourselves a comprehensive bladder cancer care program," concluded Dr. Yerram.
Learn more about innovative urological care at Hackensack University Medical Center.
