What is 'biological therapy'?

What is 'biological therapy'?

Bela Denes (Urologist) gives expert video advice on: What kinds of treatments are available for bladder cancer?; How will I know which treatment options are best for my bladder cancer?; Are there any new therapies on the horizon for bladder cancer? and more...

Biologic therapy in bladder cancer refers to the installation or the administration of biologic agents into the bladder. In the case of bladder cancer, what we generally refer to is BCG. BCG is bacillus calmette guerin, which is the bacillus, or the germ, that causes tuberculosis. The germ itself is attenuated, meaning that it is treated and it's weakened. The idea behind that is that it's weakened where, although the organism itself is still live, a live organism is being instilled. It is weakened where it will not cause an infection, but will be picked up by the cells, or will enter the cells. Due to the nature of the organism, it will cause an intense inflammatory response locally within the tumor, and systemically within the host. The body will recognize this, the immune system will recognize this, and generate antibodies and lymphocytes to fight it off. Today, BCG is the number one chemotherapy or intravesical therapy for patients with either intermediate or high risk bladder cancer.