Follow-Up Results from a Randomized Trial for T3 and T4 Breast Cancer Patients: Previous BCG Immunotherapy Improves Response to Chemotherapy in the Relapse Patient

Following locoregional treatment, patients were randomized into three groups: The first group received no complementary treatment; the second group received adjuvant chemotherapy (vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and 5-fluorouracil once a month for 12 months); and the third group was treated by immunotherapy (150 mg BCG once a week for 1 year). Sixty-two of the 82 patients studied were menopausal. No significant difference was observed between the three groups. All patients were followed-up for at least 18 months. The disease-free interval difference between the chemotherapy group and the control and immunotherapy groups is not significant. But it should be noted that only 21.8% of the control group did not relapse compared to 57% in the chemotherapy group. BCG immunotherapy in such patients must be considered ineffective. However, our results suggest that patients first treated with BCG respond better to chemotherapy than patients not receiving any previous therapy.