ABSTRACT
We divided randomly into 3 groups 60 patients with recurrent superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder : group 1- 20 controls who underwent transurethral resection only, group 2-20 patients who underwent transurethral resection and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin therapy, and group 3-20 patients treated by transurethral resection and Maltose TetraPalmitate. Mean follow up was 44.85 months for the controls, 52.15 months for group 2 and 59.20 months for group 3. The mean recurrence rate per 100 patient-months was 15.31 +/- 11.55 in the controls, 12.11 +/- 7.66 in group 2 and 7.71 +/- 5.36 in group 3, and the recurrence index per month was 0.153, 0.121 and 0.071, respectively. The recurrence rate and recurrence index per month were significantly decreased in the MTP treated group compared to the controls [p = 0.017] but not significantly reduced in BCG treated group. There was no significant difference between the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin and Maltose TetraPalmitate groups. Invasive carcinoma developed in 65 percent of the controls, 45 percent of group 2 and 35 percent of group 3. Invasive carcinoma required cystectomy +/- chemotherapy or definitive radiotherapy. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin caused irritation of the bladder mucosa, while Maltose TetraPalmitate did not have any side effects