title: Coley's toxins, tumor necrosis factor and cancer research: a historical perspective.
abstract: As far back as the 1700s, it was recorded that certain infectious disease processes could exert a beneficial therapeutic effect upon malignancy. Most prominent among the numerous deliberate efforts made to take advantage of these observations was that of a pioneering New York surgeon, William B. Coley, active career 1891-1936. Using a bacterial vaccine to treat primarily inoperable sarcoma. Coley accomplished a cure rate of better than 10%. This review examines the history of these efforts and presents a discussion of their corresponding relevance to present day immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Amgen, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320-1789, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wiemann
authors.forename: C O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Starnes
mesh_terms: D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000266:history* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004886:Erysipelas / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000266:history*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000266:history / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000266:history* / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha