BCG in my bladder!

BCG is a vaccine developed to combat the tuberculosis epidemic. The anti cancer potential of tuberculosis was known before the development of BCG. It had been seen in autopsy studies that people who had suffered from tuberculosis had lower incidence of having a cancer of the affected organ than the ones who did not. BCG was initially tried to treat skin cancers ( melanomas) with variable success. Later it was shown that BCG could protect against bladder cancer recurrence and progression (worsening aggressive nature). The BCG is put into the bladder and has to be retained there for 2 hours. The aim is to stimulate the immune system to reject the cancer. The standard practice is to use an induction course followed by a maintenance course. The induction course involves six cessions of BCG instillation at weekly interval followed by a telescopic examination usually about 3 months after the last dose to evaluate the response. This is followed by the maintenance schedule.
There are different maintenance schedules being used in different hospitals due to lack of consensus in this regards. There is a strong consensus that maintenance therapy following is more effective than induction therapy of BCG alone.
It is common for patients to experience burning sensation during voiding with an element of urgency to pass urine. Quite a few other side effects are possible with BCG use in bladder cancer and due to this reason it recommended for aggressive bladder cancers.