What is a BCG treatment?
Annie harris asked...
Is BCG treatment used to treat bladder cancer a form of chemotherapy?
Expert Answer
Linda Ackerman, R.N. has clinical experience in oncology, women's health, and medical nursing. She has been practicing for more than 20 years and is a licensed registered nurse in both Florida and Wisconsin. In addition, she serves as a board member of Breast Cancer Recovery and the Wisconsin Cancer Council.
Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)treatment is grouped with in cancer immunotherapy treatments. Cancer immunotherapy is an approach for treating cancer using our own immune system to fight the disease. Although the mechanism of BCG remains unclear, it appears that it stimulates an immune response or causes inflammation of the bladder wall that destroys cancer cells within the bladder.