Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Live for Cancer (Mucosal-Local)

Brand Names : Pacis, TheraCys, TICE BCG, ImmuCyst

Before Receiving This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For BCG, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to BCG.

Pregnancy - BCG has not been studied in pregnant women or animals. Make sure your doctor knows if you are pregnant or if you may become pregnant before receiving BCG.

Breast-feeding - It is not known whether BCG passes into the breast milk.

Children - There is no specific information comparing use of BCG for treatment of cancer in children with use in other age groups.

Older adults - This medicine has been tested and has not been shown to cause different side effects or problems in older people than it does in younger adults.

Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When receiving BCG it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:

• Amphotericin B by injection (e.g., Fungizone) or
• Antineoplastics (cancer medicine) or
• Antithyroid agents (medicine for overactive thyroid) or
• Azathioprine (e.g., Imuran) or
• Chlorambucil (e.g., Leukeran) or
• Chloramphenicol (e.g., Chloromycetin) or
• Colchicine or
• Corticosteroids (cortisone-like medicine) or
• Cyclophosphamide (e.g., Cytoxan) or
• Cyclosporine (e.g., Sandimmune) or
• Flucytosine (e.g., Ancobon) or
• Ganciclovir (e.g., Cytovene) or
• Interferon (e.g., Intron A, Roferon-A) or
• Mercaptopurine (e.g., Purinethol) or
• Methotrexate (e.g., Mexate) or
• Muromonab-CD3 (e.g., Orthoclone OKT3) or
• Plicamycin (e.g., Mithracin) or
• Zidovudine (e.g., AZT, Retrovir) - Because these medicines reduce the body's natural immunity, they may prevent BCG from stimulating the immune system and will cause it to be less effective. In addition, the risk of infection may be increased

Other medical problems - The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of BCG. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

• Fever - Infection may be present and could cause problems

• Immunity problems - BCG treatment is less effective and there is a risk of infection

• Urinary tract infection - Infection and irritation of the bladder may occur