Effect of bacille Calmette-Guerin immunotherapy on feline sarcoma virus-induced neoplasms in the cat.
Kittens infected experimentally with feline sarcoma virus (FeSV) were inoculated with emulsions of bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) cell wall preparations to determine the effect of BCG immunotherapy on FeSV-induced sarcoma-genesis. The BCG preparations or emulsificant control preparations were administered (i) subcutaneously at the same time and site as was the FeSV inoculation, (ii) at the same site but 1 week after FeSV inoculation, or (iii) with a mixture of viable autochthonous neoplastic cells approximately 35 days after FeSV inoculation. There was no difference in the percentage of kittens that developed neoplasms, the prepatent period for neoplastic development, the percentage of kittens with neoplastic regression, or the survival rate among groups given BCG, emulsificant control, or FeSV alone. Significantly (P less than 0.05) greater dissemination of neoplasms was seen in groups given BCG or emulsificant control preparations, compared with dissemination in groups given FeSV alone.