[Intravesical BCG as a treatment for superficial and in situ transitional cell XXXX ].

@entity1 @entity625 @entity146 @entity189 @entity150
Intravesical BCG is already established as effective therapy in the management of superficial @entity150 . However, varying results have been obtained with different BCG strains; these are ascribed to variations in their immunogenicity. The locally available BCG strain which contains approximately 1.2 x 10(9) colony-forming units per 120 mg was used for intravesical instillation in 27 @entity1 with recurrent superficial transitional @entity150 . Ten of the 13 @entity1 who received BCG prophylactically to reduce or stop recurrencies completed therapy and 7 (70%) were in remission after 1 or 2 courses with a mean follow-up of 2 years. Fourteen @entity1 received BCG therapeutically for in situ @entity189 . Thirteen of these @entity1 completed therapy and 9 (69%) responded favourably after 1 or 2 courses of BCG for a mean follow-up period of 23 months. Adverse effects of the treatment were mild and well tolerated except in a @entity1 who received radiotherapy. Although 21 @entity1 experienced @entity146 only 1 discontinued treatment as a direct result. The only other @entity1 in whom treatment had to be stopped, developed severe @entity625 after 3 instillations. A statistically significant reduction in the number of recurrences (P less than 0.001) was experienced by the @entity1 who received BCG prophylactically. Although this is a very limited study, the locally available BCG strain exhibited therapeutic activity. It is cost-effective and warrants further study.
