John A Taylor, III, MD, MS, Working on Next Phase of Potential Cancer Treatment Thanks to Grant from the Department of Defense
By Kelly Hale, Communications Coordinator
Aug 13, 2024
Bladder cancer is among the most common cancers in the VA Health System and is the most expensive cancer to treat per a patient’s lifetime. Patients in the VA system, which include veterans, current service members and their families, that have bladder cancer tend to have a higher level of medical burden.
Current treatment for advanced-stage bladder cancer is a combination of preoperative chemotherapy, followed by surgery to remove the bladder. Unfortunately, many patients are too sick to receive traditional chemotherapy because of the known side effects.
While there are some new treatments that have fewer side effects than chemotherapy, they are costly and less likely to work. New therapies that are affordable with fewer side effects are needed to provide patients with the best possible outcomes. Potentially providing these patients with a therapeutic option that is financially viable and effective can provide patients the opportunity to realize the potential survival benefit of chemotherapy before bladder removal.
For one new treatment, John A Taylor, III, MD, MS, has been studying intravenous Vitamin C (IVC), in combination with two other drugs, gemcitabine and carboplatin. (Oral Vitamin C absorption is limited by the body.) During his Phase I trial, which was made possible by a Frontiers’ Lauren S. Aaronson Pilot Award and a matching grant from the University of Kansas Cancer Center, Taylor enrolled participants with invasive bladder cancer who were not eligible for traditional chemotherapy before surgery due to underlying illness. One-third of participants responded positively with downstaging of their cancers, including some with no residual cancer found when their bladder was removed. The treatment was well tolerated with minimal side effects. The quality-of-life analysis showed no drop during chemotherapy treatment, which is not typical with the standard treatment regimens.
With this new funding, Taylor and his team will work with a larger group of participants who are not eligible for standard chemotherapy before bladder removal, to study how this new therapeutic option impacts the quality of life for the participants with a treatment that has the potential to be practice changing.
Positive results from this trial could be expanded to other stages of bladder cancer that require chemotherapy and offer patients a new treatment option.
Collaborating with investigators from the University of Iowa Holden Cancer Center