Comparative study on the use of finasteride in preventing recurrence in patients with bladder tumor

Abstract

Bladder cancer has the highest incidence and mortality worldwide. Approximately half a million new cases and 200,000 deaths per year are reported worldwide. Most bladder cancers present as non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, with approximately 61-15% of them recurring after 5 years. It has been reported that the prevalence of bladder cancer is higher in men than in women. The reason for the gender difference is unknown. However, it has been suggested that androgens and androgen receptor signaling may promote the growth of urothelial cancer cells and control the transcription of genes associated with processes such as cell cycle, survival, and differentiation. Therefore, considering the high recurrence of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in the follow-up of patients and on the other hand the effect of androgens on the incidence of bladder cancer, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of finasteride in preventing recurrence in patients with bladder cancer.

Methods: This study was conducted on 124 patients with bladder tumor referred to Imam Reza Hospital in Tabriz who were in Ta T1 stage with low or high grade. In this study, patients were divided into two groups. The control group was treated with placebo drug and the finasteride group was treated with oral finasteride 5 mg daily. In follow-up, patients were examined every 3 months to 1 year for tumor recurrence.

Results: In the present study, the total rate of superficial bladder tumor recurrence in the control group was 8% in the first three months, 19% in 6 months, 31% in 9 months, and 48.3% in one year, and in the finasteride group, it was 4.8% in first three months and 10.7% in 6 months. It was 16.6% in 9 months and 32.2% in one year.