A COMMON form of testicular cancer can be cured with a single jab of chemotherapy, researchers revealed yesterday.
Carboplatin – currently often used to treat ovarian and lung cancer – could replace the need for radiotherapy in men with early-stage seminoma.
Experts say the drug is a "safer cure" for the cancer, with fewer long-term health risks.
Up to 45 p
er cent of testicular cancers are classed as early-stage seminoma, amounting to between 780 and 880 cases in the UK each year.
In the largest ever trial involving this form of the disease, a single carboplatin injection was used to treat 573 patients with early-stage seminoma.
The results were compared with 904 men given two or three weeks of daily radiotherapy – the current standard treatment.
Those patients given carboplatin experienced fewer side-effects and were able to get back to their normal lives quicker than the men on radiotherapy.
Of the 573 patients given carboplatin, only 5 per cent relapsed – but none of the men died from their cancer following further treatment.
Men with seminomas usually have the testicle removed where the cancer occurred. In one in 20 cases, the other testicle also develops cancer. Those treated with carboplatin were less likely to develop cancer in the other testicle.
Only two out of 573 developed cancer in the other testicle, compared with 15 out of 904 patients treated with radiotherapy.
Side-effects of radiotherapy can include sickness and tiredness in the short term, with more serious long-term problems such as swelling and fibrosis, when tissue becomes less stretchy due to the radiation.
Dr Ben Mead, an honorary senior lecturer in medical oncology at the University of Southampton's School of Medicine, who presented the study, said: "Giving patients a carboplatin injection rather than radiotherapy is less unpleasant with fewer long-term risks."
Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, said seminoma was a "great success story for the field of cancer research".
"This trial now shows that chemotherapy can cure early stage seminoma, so that men diagnosed with the disease can be successfully treated with fewer side-effects."
Sally Stenning, from the Medical Research Council's clinical trials unit, which ran the trial, said: "Testicular cancer caught early is now one of the most curable forms of cancer."
The results of the study are due to be presented today at the National Cancer Research Institute's cancer conference in Birmingham.
Case Study: 'Radiotherapy takes it out of you. You're really tired'LIKE many men with testicular cancer, Steve Young is all too familiar with the side-effects that can follow a gruelling session of radiotherapy.
Mr Young was diagnosed with the form of the disease known as seminoma in 1996.
The 41-year-old had surgery to remove the affected testicle, followed by ten sessions of radiotherapy over two weeks.
"In the second week, I had four sessions ending on Thursday, but then it was the Easter weekend, so I had to wait until the following Tuesday for the last treatment.
"I would have done anything to avoid that last session. It really takes it out of you. You feel really tired and are left with a metallic taste in your mouth.
"I was just starting to feel better and then had to go through it again."
Mr Young, a landscaper from East Lothian, said being able to avoid radiotherapy would be welcomed by many patients.
"So long as they are reassured that the treatment they are getting is enough to rid them of the cancer, not having to have radiotherapy would be good."
Mr Young, who is married with two children, later went on to have his remaining testicle removed after cancer was discovered. He has helped set up Testicular Cancer Awareness Scotland to make sure men know the symptoms of testicular cancer.
Another cancer patient, Stephen Mattinson, also welcomed the new research, which should help reduce the use of radiotherapy.
The 53-year-old, from West Sussex was diagnosed six years ago and also had ten sessions of radiotherapy to stop the cancer spreading in his body.
"I felt nausea and tiredness. It also affected my bladder.
"It was tolerable but it was not a nice experience," he said.
Ten-minute test will help diagnose prostate diseaseA SIMPLE, fast, finger-prick test that can help in the diagnosis of prostate cancer is to be launched today.
The new blood test can assess a man's level of the cancer marker prostate specific antigen (PSA) in only ten minutes – currently, men have to wait several days for the results of a test, causing inconvenience and worry.
Raised PSA – a protein that leaks out of the prostate gland when it is damaged – does not necessarily signify cancer but may suggest the need for further investigation. Measuring PSA levels also helps monitor the progress of prostate cancer in diagnosed patients.
The new test, PSAWatch, needs only a drop of blood from a finger-prick, which is analysed using a portable machine. Conventional tests require a syringe full of blood, which has to be sent to a laboratory.
The test, which costs about £40, is not yet available on the NHS.
Dr Tim Larner, a consultant urologist at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said:
"This test will be invaluable for patients who have active surveillance of their PSA levels or for patients who need regular monitoring of disease progression or success of treatment."
About 34,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK.
The full article contains 924 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
