Abstract
We evaluated the life-prolonging effect and cytocidal effect of OK-432, a streptococcal biological response modifier, on head and neck cancer patients. OK-432 was injected interdermally to 64 patients with pharyngeal cancer at a dose of 1-5KE/time for as long as tolerated. An improvement in survival rate of 76% at 12 months and 60% at 24 months after OK-432 treatment was observed. In particular, the prognosis of patients who were treated with OK-432 continuously for more than 6 months was better than that of patients who were treated with OK-432 for less than 6 months. Intratumoral injection of OK-432 was administered to 8 patients with head and neck cancer at a does of 1-10KE/time as frequently as possible. Twenty-five percent of patients responded favorably to treatment including one case of complete remission and one case of partial remission. These results showed that OK-432 is a potent Biological response modifier for head and neck cancer therapy.
