Regional immunotherapy with intrapleural BCG for lung cancer.
A living vaccine, the bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bovis, has been administered in a single postoperative intrapleural dose as a controlled equivalent of postoperative empyema in 38 patients following pulmonary resection for lung cancer. This form of regional immunotherapy is reasonably well tolerated if the vaccine is given in a limited dose and if a follow-up course of isoniazid (INH) is administered. In this report, the technical details of this new therapeutic program are reviewed. The preliminary findings in a randomized prospective clinical train of the technique indicate that patients with Stage I lung cancer are significantly benefitted by the treatment. Patients with more advanced disease are unimproved by this form of therapy.
D001500:BCG Vaccine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004653:Empyema / Q000209:etiology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D007538:Isoniazid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011183:Postoperative Complications
D001500:BCG Vaccine; D007538:Isoniazid