The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 53, 391-396, Copyright © 1992 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Adjuvant treatment using transfer factor for bronchogenic carcinoma: long-term follow-up
RI Whyte, MA Schork, H Sloan, MB Orringer and MM Kirsh
Section of Thoracic Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Transfer factor, a dialyzable lymphocyte extract that may act as an immune
stimulator by transferring antigen-specific immunity between genetically
dissimilar individuals, was administered in a prospective, randomized study
to patients with non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma. Between 1976 and
1982, 63 patients who underwent pulmonary resection, mediastinal lymph node
dissection, and, when indicated by the presence of mediastinal lymph node
involvement, mediastinal irradiation were randomized into two groups. Group
1 (n = 28) received 1 mL of pooled transfer factor at 3-month intervals
after operation; group 2 (n = 35 ) served as controls and received saline
solution. There were no statistically significant differences between the
two groups with respect to age, sex, tumor histology, stage of disease, or
extent of resection. One patient was lost to follow-up at 96 months;
follow-up was complete in all others through July 1990. In patients
receiving transfer factor, the 2-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates were 82%,
64%, and 43% respectively, whereas in controls they were 63%, 43%, and 23%.
Survival in patients receiving transfer factor was consistently better than
in those receiving placebo. Furthermore, survival in patients receiving
transfer factor was greater at all stages of disease for both
adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Although these long-term
results were not statistically significant using survival analysis with
covariates (p = 0.08), they confirm our previously reported short-term
findings suggesting that administration of transfer factor, either through
nonspecific immune stimulation, enhancement of cell-mediated immunity, or
an as yet undefined mechanism, can improve survival in patients with
bronchogenic carcinoma.
