Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Reduces Lung Involvement in COVID-19 in Patients with Bladder Cancer

Abstract

Objective: To compare the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) infection, morbidity, and mortality rates of patients who did not receive and received Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) treatment because of bladder cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material(s) and Method(s): Patients who were followed up for bladder cancer between March 2019 and March 2021 were evaluated. Patients who underwent intravesical BCG instillation (induction or maintenance) and those who did not receive BCG were divided into two groups. The characteris-tics (age, gender, etc.) and COVID-19-related findings (symptoms, comorbidities, lung involvement, and need for patient admission) of the patients were recorded and compared between the groups. Result(s): The present study included 215 patients (85 in Group 1;and 130 in Group 2). Demographic data were similar in both groups (body mass index, age, gender, comorbidities, etc.). COVID-19 incidence was similar in both groups (18 patients in Group 1;21 patients in Group 2;p: 0.350). The number of patients with COVID-19 treated in the hospital was more in Group 1 than in Group 2 (14 patients in Group 1, 7 patients in Group 2, p: 0.006). However, lung involvement and dyspnea were significantly lower in the intravesical BCG Group (p: 0.015;and p: 0.001, respectively). Conclusion(s): Intravesical BCG instillation reduces the morbidity associated with COVID-19. Therefore, the installation schemes should not be delayed due to the pandemic. The current study im-parts preliminary information about the importance of BCG vaccination studies against COVID-19. Copyright © 2022 by Turkish Society of Medical Oncology.