100 years of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin immunotherapy: from cattle to COVID-19

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the most widely used vaccine worldwide and has been used to prevent tuberculosis for a century. BCG also stimulates an anti-tumour immune response, which urologists have harnessed for the treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. A growing body of evidence in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature reviews. Urology Vol. 18; no. 10; pp. 611 - 622
Main Authors: Lobo, Niyati, Brooks, Nathan A, Zlotta, Alexandre R, Cirillo, Jeffrey D, Boorjian, Stephen, Black, Peter C, Meeks, Joshua J, Bivalacqua, Trinity J, Gontero, Paolo, Steinberg, Gary D, McConkey, David, Babjuk, Marko, Alfred Witjes, J, Kamat, Ashish M
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01.10.2021
Subjects:
Adjuvants, Immunologic - history
Animals
BCG Vaccine - history
Bladder cancer
Cattle
Coronaviruses
COVID-19 - prevention & control
COVID-19 Vaccines
History, 19th Century
History, 20th Century
Humans
Hypotheses
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy - history
Infant
Pandemics
Tuberculosis
ISSN:1759-4812, 1759-4820, 1759-4820
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the most widely used vaccine worldwide and has been used to prevent tuberculosis for a century. BCG also stimulates an anti-tumour immune response, which urologists have harnessed for the treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. A growing body of evidence indicates that BCG offers protection against various non-mycobacterial and viral infections. The non-specific effects of BCG occur via the induction of trained immunity and form the basis for the hypothesis that BCG vaccination could be used to protect against the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This Perspective article highlights key milestones in the 100-year history of BCG and projects its potential role in the COVID-19 pandemic.
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ISSN:1759-4812
1759-4820
1759-4820
DOI:10.1038/s41585-021-00481-1