Abstract
Studies on the effect of thymosin on T-cell levels in vitro among normal persons and cancer patients show that, in general, T-cell levels increase after incubation with thymosin in populations with low initial T-cell levels while the levels decrease in populations with high initial T-cell levels. In patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung receiving intensive chemotherapy also randomized to receive thymosin at a dose of 60 mg/m 2, thymosin at a dose of 20 mg/m 2, or placebo twice weekly, increased survival occurred in patients receiving the thymosin dose of 60 mg/m 2. The increase in survival was greatest in patients with low pretreatment T-cell and α 2HS-glycoprotein levels. These observations suggest that the cancer patients most likely to benefit therapeutically from adjuvant treatment with thymosin are those with relatively low initial T-cell levels and other parameters of cellular immunity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1787-1790 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Cancer treatment reports |
Volume | 62 |
Issue number | 11 |
State | Published - 1978 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research