title: History of bacillus Calmette-Guerin and bladder cancer: an immunotherapy success story.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We review how the bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine evolved to become standard therapy for superficial bladder cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the historical literature describing the origin of the bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine as an anticancer agent and its singular success as the most effective immunotherapy used against a human neoplasm.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The association between tuberculosis and cancer, and the demonstration that bacillus Calmette-Guerin invoked immunological reactivity, inhibiting tumor growth in experimental animal models, led to clinical trials showing that intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin eradicated and prevented recurrence of superficial bladder tumors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For the last 3 decades bacillus Calmette-Guerin therapy has remained the most effective local therapy for superficial bladder cancer, an outstanding example of successful translational medicine in urology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021, USA. herrh@mskcc.org
authors.forename: Harry W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Herr
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morales
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000266:history* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001500:BCG Vaccine / Q000266:history* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000266:history*; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000266:history*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D001500:BCG Vaccine