Adjuvant Immunotherapy with B.C.G. in Carcinoma of the Prostate

Abstract

8 previously untreated patients with Stage III and Stage IV prostatic cancer who had had the bulk of their primary tumour removed by transurethral resection, and residual tumour suppressed by bilateral total orchidectomy, were given adjuvant immunotherapy by direct injection of B.C.G. into the prostate. The pyrexial reaction to, and the histological changes from B.C.G. have been more marked in the patients whose disease is no longer controlled by conventional therapy. Granulomas have been found in the lungs, liver, myocardium, spleen and bone marrow. Granulomas in carcinomatous areas have been associated with tumour cell degeneration.