title: Locoregional immunotherapy of malignant ascites by intraperitoneal administration of OK-432 plus IL-2 in gastric cancer patients.
abstract: The clinical efficacy of intraperitoneal administration of OK-432 plus interleukin-2 (IL-2) for treating malignant ascites was evaluated in gastric cancer patients. Ten KE of OK-432 and 200,000 Jurkat units of IL-2 were intraperitoneally administered in tandem in the order given on alternate days at paracentesis. Of the 22 evaluable patients, 18 (81%) developed complete or partial responses, showing a cytologic disappearance of cancer cells and decrease of ascites. More than 50% of the patients obtained positive responses within 2 weeks after the initial administration of the drugs. Improvements of performance status and clinical symptoms such as abdominal fullness, followed by restoration of oral food intake and prolongation of survival time were observed in responders treated with OK-432 plus IL-2. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated a predominant increase of the CD3+CD4+ cells, especially of the CD4+CD45RA- subset in the peritoneal cavity of the responders. Cytotoxicity assay after negative selection of the CD4+ cells with the antibody and complement revealed that the CD4+ subset possessed cytotoxic activity against autologous tumor cells. The results suggest that intraperitoneal administration of OK-432 plus IL-2 may not be only a practical but also an effective protocol for treating malignant ascites in gastric cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Hiroshima University, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noma
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Funakoshi
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Takashima
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sawamura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toge
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001201:Ascites / Q000276:immunology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010844:Picibanil / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011788:Quality of Life; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D007376:Interleukin-2; D010844:Picibanil