Oral bacille Calmette Guérin immunostimulation in malignant melanoma

Forty-seven patients representing all stages of malignant melanoma have been treated orally with bacille Calmette Guérin as an adjunct to standard treatment regimens. This is a preliminary study, but it appears that orally administered bacille Calmette Guérin in localized disease may delay the development of local recurrence and distant spread. In patients with disseminated melanoma but without intracranial metastases, the survival time is increased from 4.0 to 12.7 months. It has no effect on the progress of disease in patients with intracranial metastases or in those with hepatic metastases from intraocular melanoma.