# TB Patients Don't Get Cancer?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tb-patients-dont-get-cancer/289980>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 14, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tb-patients-dont-get-cancer/289980 "2005-02-14T06:53:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tb-patients-dont-get-cancer/289980/1 "2005-02-14T06:53:37Z")

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Years agoI read that a doctor researching cancer therapies found that people who had an active TB nfection rarely developed cancer. the theory was that the immune system (stimulated by the fight against the TB bacteria) was so revved up that it also attacked the cancer cells.  
Is this effect real? And, has this ever been tried as a anti-cancer therapy?

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tb-patients-dont-get-cancer/289980/2 "2005-02-14T07:48:20Z")

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IANAD, but the two diseases can coexist, [http://www.wjso.com/content/1/1/3](http://www.wjso.com/content/1/1/3)  
and I would think that if you had cancer, being given even a mild form of an extremely delibiatating, often fatal disease would be a bad thing.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tb-patients-dont-get-cancer/289980/3 "2005-02-15T02:22:32Z")

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As noted, people with TB can definitely develop cancer. However, the vaccine used to prevent TB, so called [BCG\*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_Calmette-Gu%E9rin), is sometimes also used to boost the immune system in an effort to fight off already-established cancer, especially [bladder cancer](http://www.medhelp.org/NIHlib/GF-461.html#16), and sometimes skin cancer (melanoma) and kidney cancer.

\*BCG is not a particularly effective anti-TB vaccine, so its use is not advised unless a person is at very high risk of contracting TB (e.g. in many third world countries)