Effects of transfer factor in patients with advanced cancer.

Overview

Eighteen patients with advanced cancer were given subcutaneous injections of pooled dialyzable transfer factor (TFd) from normal donors for periods of from 9 days to 6.5 months. Minor tumor regression was observed in only two patients, an effect of no therapeutic significance. However, treatment with TFd was associated with at least a temporary increase in delayed hypersensitivity reactions in 12 of 17 patients tested, including four patients who became responsive to 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene. In general, in vitro tests of immune function were not changed after treatment with TFd except for levels of C1q, and/or C3, which were increased in 6 of 10 patients tested. We conclude that TFd may augment delayed hypersensitivity in patients with advanced cancer, and that its effects are, at least in part, immunologically nonsepcific.