Did patients with interstitial cystitis who failed to respond to initial treatment with bacillus Calmette-Guerin or placebo in a randomized clinical trial benefit from a second course of open label bacillus Calmette-Guerin? JOURNAL OF UROLOGY Propert, K. J., Mayer, R., Nickel, J. C., Payne, C. K., Peters, K. M., Teal, V., Burks, D., Kusek, J. W., Nyberg, L. M., Foster, H. E. 2007; 178 (3): 886-890

Abstract

We evaluated safety and efficacy outcomes in a case series of subjects who received open label intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin after failing to respond to bacillus Calmette-Guerin or intravesical placebo in a randomized clinical trial.Subjects who met National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases criteria for IC and reported at least moderate pain and frequency were initially randomized to 6 weekly intravesical instillations of bacillus Calmette-Guerin or placebo and followed for a total of 34 weeks. At 34 weeks subjects who reported that they had not responded to treatment were offered treatment with open label bacillus Calmette-Guerin, using the same course of treatment and followup. Outcomes included a patient reported global response assessment, a 24-hour voiding diary, pain, urgency, validated interstitial cystitis symptom indexes and adverse events.A total of 156 subjects elected open label bacillus Calmette-Guerin, of whom 18 (12%) withdrew during the open label series. The response rate based on the global response assessment was 18% and it was identical between those initially randomized to placebo (first course of bacillus Calmette-Guerin in the open label series) and those initially randomized to bacillus Calmette-Guerin (second course). Small improvements were observed for most secondary efficacy outcomes. Most participants reported at least 1 adverse event, primarily pain, genitourinary symptoms and gastrointestinal disturbances. However, there was no difference in adverse events between those who received the first course of bacillus Calmette-Guerin in this series compared to those who received 2 courses.The low response rate for bacillus Calmette-Guerin in this open label case series further argues against the routine use of bacillus Calmette-Guerin as treatment for interstitial cystitis.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.juro.2007.05.052

View details for Web of Science ID 000248641300042

View details for PubMedID 17631335