Related Experiment Videos
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin plus intravesical interferon alpha-2b in patients with superficial bladder cancer
P Stricker1, K Pryor, T Nicholson
1Department of Urology, St. Vincent's Hospital, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Objectives:
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and interferon alpha-2b (IFN alpha 2b) have been used individually for the treatment of bladder cancer. We used a low dose of BCG combined with IFN alpha 2b to determine the safety and to assess the efficacy of this combination therapy.
Methods:
A study of 12 patients with superficial bladder cancer evaluated the safety and efficacy of a combination of low-dose BCG and IFN alpha 2b, given weekly for 6 weeks. Three patients were assigned to each of four groups in which 60 mg of BCG was combined with 10, 30, 60, or 100 x 10(6) IU of IFN alpha 2b.
Results:
The combination BCG/IFN alpha 2b therapy was well tolerated, with adverse effects being mild to moderate and resolved at the end of treatment. At 12 months post-treatment there has been no tumor progression. Two patients with previous multifocal transitional cell carcinoma have had solitary recurrences. One patient has had recurrent carcinoma in situ.
Conclusions:
This preliminary study found combination BCG/IFN alpha 2b induction therapy to be safe and well tolerated. These early results show a high response rate, but efficacy can only be determined with Phase II and III studies.