Preliminary results of combined surgery and adjuvant Bacillus Calmette-Guérin plus levamisole treatment of resectable lung cancer.

The administration of intrapleural bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) alone and intrapleural BCG plus levamisole was compared to placebo in patients with resectable, non-small cell cancer of the lung. This report is based on an interim analysis of 100 eligible patients with a median followup of 245 days. No significant treatment effects are apparent at the present time, although current trends are consistent with an approximate 30% reduction in recurrence rate in patients receiving intrapleural BCG. There is little evidence to suggest that the addition of levamisole will contribute to this effect. A relationship between purified protein derivative conversion and tumor recurrence is apparent. Failure to manifest purified protein derivative conversion following administration of intrapleural BCG is associated with a significantly greater risk of tumor recurrence.