[Transfer factor immunochemotherapy for primary lung cancer--evaluation of histologic types]

The clinical effect of leucocyte dialysate, including Transfer Factor (TF), on different histologic types of primary resected lung cancer was studied. This TF immunotherapy protocol included 171 patients. Eligible cases for evaluation were randomly chosen; the TF group and control group consisted of 75 and 74 patients, respectively. The TF group included 40 adenocarcinomas, 29 epidermoid carcinomas and 6 other histologic types of carcinoma. The control group included 42 adenocarcinomas, 25 epidermoid carcinomas and 7 other histologic types of carcinoma. The distribution of clinical features in the TF and control group was very similar, not only in adenocarcinoma but also in epidermoid carcinoma. The postoperative follow-up term was 2 to 55 months in both groups. Survival in the TF group of patients with adenocarcinoma of stages I + II or curative resection was significantly better than in the control group (p less than 0.005, Cox-Mantel test). There was no significant intergroup difference in patients with stages III + IV, relative curative or noncurative resection. Survival in the TF group of patients with epidermoid carcinoma of stages I + II or III + IV was about 20% better than in the control, however, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups. On the other hand, survival in the TF group of patients undergoing relative curative resection was significantly better than in the control (p less than 0.005, Cox-Mantel test). There was no significant difference among patients who underwent curative or noncurative resection. Time-versus-recurrence curves were evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method; there was a significant difference between patients with stages I + II, but not between patients with stages III + IV. The frequency of recurrence of regional or intrapulmonary distant metastasis was lower in the TF group. It is suggested that TF suppresses postoperative recurrence and that it may be beneficial as postoperative adjuvant immunochemotherapy in primary resected lung cancer patients, especially those with relatively early stage cancer.