Recently Introduced BCG Substrain Effective for High-Risk NMIBC

The Moreau substrain of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is effective for adjuvant instillation treatment of high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), with associated outcomes comparable to the use of other substrains, new findings suggest.

BCG-Moreau was introduced recently to the European market in response to a worldwide BCG shortage, but few data are available regarding the oncologic efficacy of this substrain, according to an online report in Urologia Internationalis. Shahrokh F. Shariat, MD, of the Medical University of Vienna, and colleagues retrospectively studied 295 patients who received intravesical BCG-Moreau for NMIBC. Of these patients, 76 had intermediate-risk and 219 had high-risk NMIBC. The study endpoint was the time to first recurrence and progression to muscle-invasive disease. The 5-year recurrence-free survival and progression-free survival rates were 64.8% and 81.4%, respectively, rates comparable to those found in studies of other substrains, the investigators reported.
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The authors concluded that “BCG-Moreau may serve as an equally effective alternative” to BCG-TICE, Connaught, and RIVM during the worldwide of these substrains.

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