Efficacy

Bacterial immunotherapy is routinely used in the treatment of bladder cancer and has previously been succesfully used for other cancer types as well as in other mammalian species. 

Bladder cancer
The bacterial immunotherapeutic BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guérin), has become the method of choice in the treatment of high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

A BCG treatment comprises injecting weakened bacteria in the bladder in order to trigger an immune response against both these bacteria as well as cancer cells. 

Bladder cancer is the 7th most prevalent cancer type and NMIBC constitutes 75%-80% of all newly presented bladder cancer cases. At diagnosis NMIBC can occur in different stages and treatments and cure-rates will vary depending on the stage of the disease when therapy is initiated. BCG is the treatment of choice for high risk NMIBC patients.

In retrospective evaluations cited by the European Association of Urology a complete response rate of 72−93% was achieved with BCG (although up to 50% of complete responders might eventually show recurrence). BCG maintenance treatment is reported to reduce the risk of progression by 27%.

OK-432
OK-432 is a Japanese bacterial immunotherapy product that is approved for the treatment of (paediatric) lymphangiomas (benign malformations of the lymphatic system). In a recent European study over 85% of patients were found to have a good or excellent response. In multiple cancer types OK-432 has also been shown to result in a meaningful surival benefit. 

Other cancer types
Bacterial immunotherapy has been used successfully as early as the 1890’s (see history).

More recently, good results have been generated in multiple cancer types. These include:

  • Melanoma
  • Osteosarcoma
  • Prostate
  • Colon cancer
  • Lymphoma


Other species
Examples of the successful use of bacterial immunotherapies in the treatment of a variety of animal species & cancer types include:

  • Dogs - osteosarcoma
  • Horses - osteosarcoma
  • Mice - pancreatic cancer
  • Rats - multiple cancer types
     

Conclusions
Cited publications (see references below) provide very strong evidence of the potential efficacy of bacterial immunotherapies in cancer types beyond bladder cancer (although not all previous studies have reported positive outcomes); as the leading scientific journal Science recently concluded; "injections of microbes may be alternative to chemotherapy and radiation".

Both successful and less successful tests have been based on a variety of microbial strains, a variety of ways of administering them and both are probably important success factors. One of the key objectives of BACTherapy.org is to, based on our current understanding, define the optimal use of bacterial immunotherapy and test these protocols in clinical trials.