Immunobiology of primary intracranial tumors

Abstract

Levamisole was evaluated as an immune stimulant in a randomized controlled study of patients with anaplastic gliomas, who had undergone surgical resection and who were also treated with radiotherapy and BCNU [carmustine] chemotherapy. Of 102 patients placed into the study, 85 were adequately treated (ATG): a full course of radiotherapy and 2 cycles of BCNU chemotherapy. Within the ATG, those patients who received levamisole did not demonstrate significantly different serial delayed hypersensitivity reactions, peripheral blood lymphocyte and T-cell counts, or serum IgM levels, compared to those patients not receiving levamisole. There was no significant difference in survival times of the 2 groups. Studies utilizing the avian sarcoma virus-induced glioma in rats also showed no improvement in survival with levamisole stimulation as the only immune agent, but the combination of active immunization and adjuvant stimulation with BCG plus levamisole was found to be therapeutically effective in this model and will be used in future pilot studies of active immunization in patients.