Reduced-dose bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in an era of BCG shortage: real-world experience from a tertiary cancer centre
Patients and methods: We performed an institutional review board-approved review of patients with NMIBC treated with adequate BCG at our institution between 2000 and 2020. Patients were stratified according to whether they had received 1/3D BCG or full-dose (FD) BCG. Time to recurrence, time to progression and cancer-specific survival were estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods.
Results: Of 563 patients with NMIBC treated with adequate BCG, 150 (26.6%) received 1/3D and 413 (73.4%) received FD. The use of 1/3D BCG did not adversely affect time to recurrence (P = 0.449) or time to progression (P = 0.716), and this remained consistent when patients were stratified by individual 2021 European Association of Urology (EAU) prognostic factor risk groups. Cancer-specific survival was similar in patients receiving 1/3D and those receiving FD BCG (P = 0.320).
Conclusion: The use of 1/3D BCG was not associated with adverse oncological outcomes in a large cohort of patients receiving adequate BCG for intermediate- and high-risk NMIBC. Based on this real-world experience, risk-stratified split-vial dosing may represent a valuable approach for other institutions facing BCG shortages whilst also providing reassurance to patients who may be concerned about suboptimal outcomes.
Niyati Lobo 1, Kelly K Bree 1, Patrick J Hensley 1, Graciela M Nogueras-Gonzalez 2, Prasanth Abraham 1, Neema Navai 1, Colin P Dinney 1, Ashish M Kamat 1
Affiliations
1Department of Urology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
2Department of Biostatistics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Reduced-dose bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in an era of BCG shortage: real-world experience from a tertiary cancer centre. BJU Int. 2021 Nov 30. doi: 10.1111/bju.15661. Online ahead of print.