Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG: Tokyo 172 strain) instillation for carcinoma in situ of the bladder: results with 6 successive instillations of 40 mg BCG

We performed a study to evaluate the usefulness of intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG: Tokyo 172 strain) instillation on carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the bladder. Between 1998 and 2003, 43 patients were treated for CIS of the bladder with a median follow-up period of 45 months (range: 12 to 69 months). The patients (35 males and 8 females) ranged in age from 45 to 89 years (average: 67.5 years). They underwent intravesical instillation of 40 mg of BCG once a week for 6 weeks. A complete response (CR) was achieved in 83.7% of the patients. Among these patients, 97.2% and 70.7% remained recurrence-free during follow up for one year and three years, respectively. The median duration of CR was 31.5 months. Although total cystectomy was performed on 1 patient, none of the patients died of bladder cancer. Adverse effects included bladder irritability in 48.8%, pyuria in 46.5%, gross hematuria in 18.6%, and fever (temperature over 37.5 degrees C) in 9.3%. No clinically significant side effects were observed. These results indicate that intravesical instillation of BCG at a dose of 40 mg given 6 times was as effective as the routine dose of 80 mg, and could decrease systemic adverse effects such as high fever.