Fran Curtis: Fighting Bladder Cancer, Inspiring Others

March 7, 2025

Transcript

Voice over:

This is Bladder Cancer Matters, the podcast for bladder cancer patients, caregivers, advocates, and medical and research professionals. It’s brought to you by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, otherwise known as BCAN. BCAN works to increase public awareness about bladder cancer, advances bladder cancer research, and provides educational and support services for bladder cancer patients and their loved ones. To learn more, please visit bcan.org.

Rick Bangs:

Hi. I’m Rick Bangs, the host of Bladder Cancer Matters, a podcast for, by, and about the bladder cancer community. Today is the third in a series of podcasts that we’ll be doing in observance of BCAN’s 20th anniversary, which we’re celebrating all throughout 2025. In this anniversary year, BCAN is launching a Partners in Progress podcast series in which we’ll highlight the commitment of BCAN’s pharmaceutical company partners to creating better todays and more tomorrows for bladder cancer patients and families.

Today, we’re featuring Ferring Pharmaceuticals again, this time as the March 2025 Partner in Progress. Ferring is a privately-owned biopharma company focusing on developing life-changing innovations that help people live better lives. Rather than focusing on the company and their commitment to bladder cancer patients, as we did in January, we’ve opted to feature a patient advocate who is well-known to the BCAN community and has benefited from Ferring Uro-Oncology’s bladder cancer drug Adstiladrin, which has the generic name nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg. It’s important to remember that different treatments have different results in patients, and your results may vary.

Our aforementioned patient advocate guest on today’s podcast is Fran Curtis. Fran is a survivor of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer since 2016. In March, she had a recurrence, and it was suggested that she begin treatment with a gene therapy called Adstiladrin. Since then, all her checkups have shown no evidence of disease. Ferring Pharmaceuticals Uro-Oncology Division, which makes Adstiladrin, invited Fran to work with them to share the patient’s perspective of this treatment. Her work with Ferring does not include this podcast.

Fran currently works for a company that provides educational software for New Jersey school districts. When she is not working, she volunteers with BCAN. She also enjoys traveling and recently returned from a cruise. She lives near the shore in Ocean County, New Jersey with her husband, Dan. Welcome to the podcast, Fran.

Fran Curtis:

Thank you, Rick. It’s so exciting to be here.

Rick Bangs:

We’re excited to have you, as well. So I want to start with your first bladder cancer diagnosis. What were you experiencing at the time, and how quickly did it trigger a visit to the doctor?

Fran Curtis:

So I was 59 years old, and I began experiencing some mild urinary changes. I could no longer sleep through the night without getting up to have to go to the bathroom. Then, I started getting, though, frequency urges. I used to be able to grab a coffee, drive into New York City, but now I had to stop at rest areas along the way. I also knew where every bathroom was in all the stores.

So my friends, who are a little bit older than me, laughed and said, “Oh. Join the club,” as this was just a normal part of aging. Because I didn’t experience blood in my urine, I didn’t have fear. So I think I put it off longer than I should have. But it was during a routine GYN checkup that I mentioned it to my doctor, and he said, “It’s probably nothing to worry about, but I think you should see a urologist just to be sure.”

Rick Bangs:

Okay. So you go to the urologist, and what does he say about your prognosis? What is your initial treatment, and how long did you get that initial treatment?

Fran Curtis:

Right. When I first went to the doctor, I didn’t think I had bladder cancer. I was hoping it was nothing, right, to worry about. So I didn’t do a lot of research. I just simply picked a urologist that was in my employer’s medical plan. He did a cystoscopy, though, right away in the office, and I could kind of tell by his face that he was concerned. So I had my first TURBT surgery, and it was confirmed that I had non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

So I did the normal first step. I began six weeks of BCG followed by another TURBT to see if the BCG worked, and unfortunately, it did not work. So I was very scared that I would lose my bladder, and that’s when I decided, “Okay. This is a serious thing.” So I did a lot more research, and I wanted to find the best doctor and the best medical facility that I could. So I left my first doctor, and I’m now being treated at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

Rick Bangs:

Okay. And so you’re also a breast cancer survivor, so I wanted to hear a little bit about how your breast cancer experience is different from your bladder cancer experience.

Fran Curtis:

So I was actually diagnosed with breast cancer at a very young age of 25.

Rick Bangs:

Wow.

Fran Curtis:

Then, I had it again at age 51. As scary as this was, it didn’t hit me as hard as this bladder cancer diagnosis, I think maybe because I felt, “Well, I could live without a breast,” but the thought of living without my bladder hit me harder. My daughter, who was a nurse, I guess afraid she might lose her mother, actually suggested, “Why don’t you just get your bladder removed, and we can reduce the risk of it spreading.” But I wasn’t ready to go there without trying more treatments first.

Rick Bangs:

Yeah, and understandably so. So at this point, you’ve got bladder cancer. So when did you find out about BCAN, and how did it help you as a patient?

Fran Curtis:

So I was doing a lot of Googling and researching on the internet, and I accidentally found it. So no doctor told me about it, but boy, was it a wonderful resource. Because I was able to read about the treatments that I was going to be getting, because Fox Chase was going to have me do something different than BCG. I could barely pronounce it, let alone know what it was. It was the gemcitabine-docetaxel. And so I took advantage of reading about that on the BCAN site, and then I saw all the webinars. They have a ton of them on all different topics, so, and the big thing was reading the other patients’ stories. That really gave me hope for my own journey.

Rick Bangs:

So giving back to BCAN becomes kind of part of your mission. So what types of things have you done to advance the cause and help other bladder cancer survivors?

Fran Curtis:

So after I did my treatments, and I was lucky in getting very good checkups, they were showing no evidence of disease, I thought, “Well, this is time for me maybe to explore some volunteer opportunities that BCAN offers.” So my first choice was to do the Survivor to Survivor program, and what that is is periodically, I’ll be asked to call a newly-diagnosed non-muscle invasive bladder cancer woman who will be getting treatments similar to mine. So they match you to somebody, and then we get to share our journeys and also just tips that I’ve learned along the way, very rewarding.

In addition to the Survivor to Survivor, I’m now involved in some of the advocacy efforts. For example, I was able to visit Washington, DC with other survivors to speak to the legislators, to help increase funding and awareness. Then, in March of this year, I was invited to go and share the patient perspective at the American Urology Research Conference. That was very exciting, but that’s when I first heard the word Adstiladrin. One of the doctors spoke about an exciting therapy called Adstiladrin, and then there was a Ferring Pharmaceutical table with Adstiladrin materials.

At that time, I didn’t know I will be taking this new therapy, but ironically, it was actually at this conference that I received the upsetting phone call telling me that my last checkup indicated I had a recurrence. The doctor, when he called me, said, “I might like you to try a drug called Adstiladrin.” I’m thinking, “Okay.” I just told him, I said, “I just heard all about it.”

Rick Bangs:

And just saw the booth.

Fran Curtis:

On the way out, I grabbed those pamphlets off that Ferring table.

Rick Bangs:

Very convenient. Very convenient. So what were you expecting, and how did it compare to the reality with regard to Adstiladrin?

Fran Curtis:

Well, of course, I was hoping for a complete cure, but I was a bit nervous to try something new.

Rick Bangs:

Sure.

Fran Curtis:

I didn’t know how I would react. I was concerned about maybe different side effects and a little fearful that it might not work for me.

Rick Bangs:

I heard you got some brochures on the table at the AUA, but not every patient has that opportunity. So how easy was it to get information about Adstiladrin?

Fran Curtis:

So I have to say the Ferring Adstiladrin site is great. There’s patient documents that you can download and also very informative videos to watch, and they actually have patients on there that are on that treatment. So you’re really seeing not some actor. You’re hearing from someone that’s on the medication, as well.

Rick Bangs:

Okay. So there’s no little footnote, “Paid actor.” So these are actual patients.

Fran Curtis:

They do have them in some photos, but the video I watched was-

Rick Bangs:

Excellent.

Fran Curtis:

… someone that actually went through it.

Rick Bangs:

Excellent. Excellent. So I think it’s relatively new, and people probably not familiar. So what’s the treatment schedule like, and how long will you be receiving treatment?

Fran Curtis:

So that’s a good question, and it’s, unlike BCG, which is given weekly for six weeks, Adstiladrin treatments are given once every three months, which is great. I mean, the schedule is so much easier on the patient and more convenient, because I would … Fox Chase is an hour and a half from my home. So now, I only have to go once every three months. It’s great, and it’s also instilled directly into the bladder just like BCG is. To date, I’ve had three treatments, and I remain cancer-free, which is wonderful.

Rick Bangs:

Wonderful.

Fran Curtis:

As far as how long, I mean, I will follow my doctor’s recommendations for how long I should continue treatment, but I can tolerate it pretty well.

Rick Bangs:

Wow, and that’s it?

Fran Curtis:

That’s it until the next three months.

Rick Bangs:

Yeah. Great.

Fran Curtis:

Yeah. Yeah.

Rick Bangs:

That’s terrific. So what about monitoring? How frequently are you monitored, and how do they actually do the monitoring? What’s the process?

Fran Curtis:

Okay. All right. Again, it’s like BCG, where I’ll have a cystoscopy with cytology to check the cells. But that’s only once every three months, because you get the treatment. Then, three months later, you’re checked. Then, if everything’s good, you’re going to get another treatment. So in fact, due for my next checkup in two days. So if all goes well, we’ll schedule my next Adstiladrin treatment.

Rick Bangs:

Okay. Well, we’re wishing you the best of the luck-

Fran Curtis:

Thank you.

Rick Bangs:

… in the next couple days. Fran, we’ve selected International Women’s Day, March 8th, to release this podcast, and in 2025, International Women’s Day focuses on accelerating action to address health and other inequalities that women face. So as we celebrate International Women’s Day, recognition of the importance of equity and equality in women’s healthcare, your journey is a powerful testament to resilience. What message do you have for women who are facing bladder cancer so that they can make good decisions?

Fran Curtis:

Well, often, when I speak to other women who have been diagnosed with bladder cancer, I hear that they had put off being checked, or if they did go to their family doctor, they were told it’s a UTI over and over again. So I would stress to them, if something has changed with your normal urinary routine, go to a urologist right away. It may be nothing, but if it’s bladder cancer, it’s best to catch it early before it has a chance to spread.

Rick Bangs:

Yeah, and nobody knows your body like you. Right?

Fran Curtis:

Right. Exactly.

Rick Bangs:

So just pay attention to the symptoms. Okay. Any final thoughts?

Fran Curtis:

Well, I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to be here cancer-free, and I thank the wonderful doctors and researchers who continue to develop these therapies like Adstiladrin. I also want to encourage the patients and their caregivers to visit the BCAN website. It’s just so full of great information.

Rick Bangs:

Yeah. It’s got an incredible … all the possibilities there in different formats, webcasts, obviously, podcasts, written materials. It’s just so much, so … a wealth of information. So we are incredibly lucky.

Fran Curtis:

Yes.

Rick Bangs:

So Fran, I want to thank you for sharing your bladder cancer story and your Adstiladrin story and for your part in creating better todays and more tomorrows for bladder cancer patients and families.

Fran Curtis:

Oh. You’re very welcome, Rick.

Rick Bangs:

If you’d more information about bladder cancer, please visit the BCAN website, www.bcan.org. For more information on the Survivor to Survivor program, go to www.bcan.org/s2s, Survivor to Survivor. For more information about Adstiladrin, the website that Fran mentioned, you go to www.wdstiladrin.com. That’s A-D-S-T-I-L-A-D-R-I-N. Just a reminder, if you’d more information about bladder cancer, you can contact the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network at 1-888-901-2226. That’s all the time we have today. Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe to this podcast so we have your feedback. Thank you for listening, and we’ll be back soon with another interesting episode of Bladder Cancer Matters. Thanks again, Fran.

Fran Curtis:

You’re welcome.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to Bladder Cancer Matters, a podcast by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, or BCAN. BCAN works to increase public awareness about bladder cancer, advance bladder cancer research, and provide educational and support services for bladder cancer patients. For more information about this podcast and additional information about bladder cancer, please visit bcan.org.