New study finds that use of Blue Light Cystoscopy after BCG induction increases the detection of BCG-refractory Bladder Cancer tumors

Photocure, The Bladder Cancer Company, announces a new study on the early use of Blue Light Cystoscopy (BLC®) after BCG induction for high risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

The objective of the trial was to compare detection rates of BCG refractory tumors between the use of white light and blue light cystoscopy. The study was designed as a single center, single-arm retrospective study, including 136 patients with high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer diagnosed from January 2017 to January 2021. All patients underwent initial BLC TURBT* and restaging TURBT if needed, followed by full-dose BCG.

Within 8 weeks following induction, all patients had both white light and blue light cystoscopy TURBT to assess the presence of bladder cancer with the following results: Bladder cancer was diagnosed in 33 out of 136 patients (24%). In 16 of the 33 patients bladder tumors were only detected with BLC. In addition, 18 patients had concomitant carcinoma in situ of which 12 cases (67%) were detected solely by BLC.

The authors conclude that systematic use of BLC after BCG induction increases the detection of BCG-refractory tumors and leads to significant modification in the treatment of high-risk NMIBC.

Read the full paper here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34107773/

*TURBT: trans-urethral resection of bladder tumors