Dr. Alvaro Morales, MD, FRCSC CC is a Colombian-Canadian urologist, surgeon and Member of the Order of Canada who is noted for his work in the fields of cancer research and testosterone deficiency.
"[4] In the 1970s, while working in the Department of Urology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Morales developed a hypothesis considering the use of BCG, a live tuberculosis vaccine, to treat non muscle invasive urothelial bladder cancer (NMIBC).
[5] His initial request for research funding from the National Cancer Institute of Canada was rejected with the note that "BCG is not only ineffective and dangerous but a throwback to the stone age of tumor immunology.
"[6][7] Eventually developed with funding from the Cancer Research Institute of New York, the therapy involved introducing BCG to infect the bladder, provoking an immune system response sufficiently robust to eliminate some tumors without the use of chemicals.
[8] BCG immunotherapy was found to be effective in up to 2/3 of superficial tumors, and in randomized trials has been shown to be superior to standard chemotherapy.