Immunologic Effects of BCG in Patients with Malignant Melanoma

The utilization of BCG as an effective therapy of neoplastic disease is predicated on two major assumptions: 1. that BCG will nonspecifically activate immunologic responsiveness to a wide range of antigens, some of which are tumor-specific; 2. that this activation of immune responsiveness will enhance humoral and cell mediated cytotoxicity directed against the tumor cell itself. The present study was designed to yield experimental data in man relevant to the first of these assumptions and to further define the mechanisms of immunologic activation effected by the administration of BCG in patients with malignant melanoma.