Tuberculosis as a Complication of BCG in the Treatment of Bladder Carcinoma

Abstract

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is a live attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, and is the essential constituent of the vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) and adjuvant treatment for bladder cancer.  This vaccine has a potential pathogenic action; bacilli can cause recorded complications that can be located locally near the site of inoculation and at a distance through blood dissemination root. The BCG-related disease can represent a side effect of anti-TB vaccination in patients with acquired or congenital immunodeficiency or a complication of the therapeutic oncologic schedule in patients with malignancy. Here in we report three cases of BCG-related disease which visited our national tuberculosis Iraqi center in 2022, two of those with locally developed TB and the third presented with disseminated miliary TB.