Researchers at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center in New York will be using Abraxane, a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for breast cancer, after a successful phase l trial involving bladder cancer patients of a similar breast cancer drug --Taxotere.

"Abraxane has an analogous structure to Taxotere, but has the advantage of being more soluble due to its solvent-free formulation allowing for administration at higher concentrations," study leader Dr. James McKiernanm, who was also involved in the Taxotere trial, said in a statement. "In one study of Abraxane for metastatic breast cancer, the drug successfully shrank tumors and had few side effects."

The phase l/ll study of Abraxane -- open to patients with recurrent bladder cancer that has not responded to standard treatment and left with surgical removal of the bladder as the only option -- will follow 18 patients for six weeks to assess dosage safety. A second group of l9 patients will then be followed for six weeks to measure the effectiveness of therapy.

Abraxane combines the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, with albumin, a very small protein.