Historic use

Bacterial immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer is known to have been utilised throughout history, with the earliest cases going back to c 2600 BC. The Egyptian physician Imhotep treated superficial tumours by a poultice, followed by incision, to facilitate the development of infection in the desired location. 

Observations of a relationship between infection and cancer regression date back to at least the 19th century. For example, Anton Chekhov, in his capacity as a physician, recorded such a relationship in 1884 and Wilhelm Busch and Friedrich Fehleisen had noticed spontaneous regression of tumours following the development of a superficial skin infection most commonly caused by the micro-organism Streptococcus pyogenes. They were the first to describe an association between immune status and cancer.