A new national clinical trial led by Dartmouth Cancer Center clinical researcher and urologist Florian R. Schroeck, MD, will determine whether a less intensive follow-up plan for bladder cancer patients can deliver the same outcomes while improving quality of life. VATSIT, which stands for “VA Randomized Trial of Surveillance Intervals after Transurethral Resection of High-Grade Bladder Tumors,” is for patients with high-grade, early-stage bladder cancer. It will compare the current standard approach of cystoscopy procedures every 3 to 4 months with a lower-intensity, less invasive urine-testing strategy. VATSIT will expand to more than 30 VA hospitals nationwide. Over 10 years, researchers will track outcomes such as survival, cancer progression, need for additional treatment, and quality of life to determine if fewer procedures can still deliver optimal outcomes for people with bladder cancer.

A new study by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has uncovered a hidden mechanism explaining why breast cancer can return many years after successful treatment. Published in Nature Communications, the research revealed rogue cells that change their programming to allow them to divide at a remarkably slow pace, meaning they could form microscopic tumours that silently tick away in distant organs, evading detection for decades.

A fluid that women with advanced ovarian cancer know all too well — ascites, the buildup of liquid in the belly — may be doing more than causing discomfort. A federally funded Duke University School of Medicine study finds this fluid helps cancer cells survive and spread – and that a decades-old cholesterol drug may be able to disrupt that protection.