Side-effects are commonly manifested during intravesical Bacillus 
Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy of superficial bladder cancer. This often 
causes delays or interruptions of the instillations and consequently reduces the 
efficacy of treatment. Treatment strategies aimed at reducing the side-effects 
of BCG immunotherapy while maintaining efficacy are currently being considered 
in the search for an optimal treatment regimen. The following two approaches to 
BCG immunotherapy were investigated at the Department of Urology of Padova 
University by specific Phase II and III trials designed to evaluate the 
possibility of reducing BCG-related side-effects without compromising 
therapeutic efficacy: (1) by reducing the dose of BCG per instillation 
'low-dose' regimen, (2) by delaying the interval of the instillations 
'slow-rate' regimen.