Comparison of the efficacy of BCG intravesical immunotherapy using the conventional Rotisserie method with the non-Rotisserie method

Abstract

BackgroundIntravesical BCG injections are administered following transurethral resection of the superficial bladder tumor in order to increase the success rate and decrease the risk of tumor recurrence. BCG therapy has been examined extensively in terms of dosage and injection time intervals to determine its effectiveness. However, no study has yet been conducted to compare the two qualitatively different methods of administering BCG (Rotisserie and non-Rotisserie).MethodsThis study included 30 patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder TCC, whose tumor stage was Ta or T1. Two groups of 15 patients were randomly selected. The first intravesical injection of BCG was administered 2 weeks following transurethral resection of the bladder tumor and then continued as the maintenance treatment. But, in one group, the injection was done by Rotisserie method, and in the other group, non-Rotisserie method was performed. Then, the patients underwent periodic follow-up by cystoscopy to determine if recurrences had occurred.ResultsA total of 23 participants (76.66%) were males, while seven patients (23.34%) were females. There were 20 participants (66.66%) with tumors in the Ta stage and ten participants (33.34%) with tumors in the T1 stage. There were 22 patients (73.3%) with low-grade tumors and eight (26.7%) with high-grade tumors. Five participants (16.66%) experienced tumor recurrence during the study, three of whom were in the Rotisserie group and two in the Non-Rotisserie group. In terms of preventing tumor recurrence, there were no significant differences between Rotisserie and non-Rotisserie methods (P value = 0.6).ConclusionDue to the lack of significant difference in the rate of tumor recurrence between the two methods of intravesical BCG injection (Rotisserie and non-Rotisserie), it is not necessary to rotate the patients after BCG injection. This will also allow patients to be discharged from the hospital earlier and reduce the likelihood of complications.