Coley toxins immunotherapy: a retrospective review.
OBJECTIVE
Coley toxins are administered to cancer patients worldwide, though clinical studies assessing efficacy either alone or in combination with conventional cancer therapy are limited. This article provides an overview of Coley toxins immunotherapy and compares the survival experience of cancer patients who received Coley toxins for renal, ovarian, breast cancer, or soft-tissue sarcomas with patients who received conventional treatment other than radiation.


METHODS
Cases were compiled from 5 of 18 monographs by Helen Coley Nauts.


METHODS
Using a retrospective cohort design with external controls, 128 Coley cases treated in New York from 1890 to 1960 were compared with 1675 controls from the Surveillance Epidemiology End Result (SEER) population-based cancer registry who received a cancer diagnosis in 1983.


METHODS
Groups were matched on age, sex, ethnicity, site, stage, and treatment status (i.e., no radiotherapy).


RESULTS
The Cox proportional hazards model controlled for stage and menopausal status (when applicable) and the hazard ratio and 95% CI defined the odds of site-specific survival from date of diagnosis to last follow-up. Compared to the SEER population, risk of death within 10 years was not significantly different in Coley patients treated for renal, ovarian, breast cancer, or soft-tissue sarcomas.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that patients treated with surgery and Coley toxins between 1890 and 1960 experienced survival rates comparable to those of patients diagnosed in 1983 and treated with nonradiotherapeutic conventional approaches. The study is limited by small sample sizes, possibly inaccurate technology for staging during Coley time, and potential selection bias with Coley patients.
Richardson
M A
MA
Ramirez
T
T
Russell
N C
NC
Moye
L A
LA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018426:SEER Program; D012706:Serratia marcescens / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D016019:Survival Analysis
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines