Abstract
Introduction:Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract, and recurrence following transurethral resection poses the biggest challenge. Intravesical Bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) maintenance with the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) protocol remains the gold standard but with poor patient compliance.Materials and Methods:The present study aims to compare the SWOG maintenance protocol with a monthly maintenance protocol comprising 12 monthly doses of intravesical BCG. Patients are included in the study only if induction BCG is completed and cystoscopy at 3 months is negative. All patients receive 80 mg BCG in each dose with strict cystoscopic surveillance every 3 months.Results:Patient demographics and tumor characteristics were similar in the two groups. There were no statistically significant differences in outcome in terms of recurrence, progression, and adverse reactions in both the groups. Although a larger number of patients in the SWOG maintenance group were lost to follow-up, the difference was not statistically significant proportions.Conclusion:From this study, we can conclude that monthly maintenance BCG for 1 year is comparable in terms of outcome with SWOG protocol maintenance BCG. A greater percentage of patients in the monthly maintenance protocol completed the treatment as planned.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
