Medline ® Abstract for Reference 18

In the United States, bladder cancer is the fourth most common human malignancy. In the past decade, the incidence of bladder cancer has increased by 36%. However, mortality has declined by 8%. Intravesical chemotherapy was considered to be partially responsible for this improvement in survival, but a recent review of clinical studies shows no reduction in disease progression with intravesical chemotherapy. Fortunately, the results of immunotherapy with bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) are quite different, and it is expected that patients treated with optimal BCG treatment regimens will have a long-term reduction in tumor recurrence, tumor progression, and cancer mortality.