Medicina Fluminensis, Vol. 53 No. 3, 2017.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.21860/medflum2017_182956
Immunotherapy of transitional cell carcinoma of urinary bladder
Kristian Krpina
; Klinika za urologiju, Klinički bolnički centar Rijeka, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Abstract
Bladder cancer is the most common cancer in urinary system. There are two clinical aspects of this disease: muscle non-invasive and muscle invasive disease. Basic characteristic of non-muscle invasive disease is tumor recurrence; 60-90 % of tumors will recurr if treated by transurethral resection (TUR) only. That is the reason why patients in whom exists the risk of recurrence or progression undergo intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy. BCG represents live attenuated Mycobacterium bovis. There are two phases in BCG therapy: induction and maintenance therapy. Intravesical BCG application causes massive agregation of immune cells in bladder wall and producton of cytokins which causes cytotoxic tumor response. Direct effector mechanism is achieved by IFN (interferon) and NK (natural killer) cell cytotoxicity.
Keywords
BCG; bladder cancer; immunotherapy
Hrčak ID:
184836
URI
Publication date:
1.9.2017.
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