Combination therapy with traditional Chinese medicines and Streptococcus pyogenes products (OK 432) for endogenous tumor necrosis factor therapy. A preliminary report.

The antitumor activity of combination therapy with traditional Chinese medicines and OK432 (Streptococcus pyogenes) for cancer patients was investigated. Excellent antitumor activity of this treatment was achieved in one patient with hepatocellular carcinoma. The present report describes the clinical course of this patient and examines the contribution of production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon-gamma (IFN). Endogenous production of TNF could be observed after drip intravenous injection of OK 432 in the serum of patients treated by previous oral administration of traditional Chinese medicines. The serum levels of IFN were very low and remained at almost undetectable levels under these conditions. The selective use of immunostimulants such as traditional Chinese medicines may be of value in combination with other therapies such as drip infusion of OK 432, in the treatment of advanced cancer or of aged patients because of the low toxicity. One patient out of 12 revealed a partial response as assessed by the antitumor activity. However, with this treatment, patients did become free from pain and a good performance status was supported.