Biological Response Modifiers in Human Oncology and Immunology, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1983 Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology Series, Vol. 166

The topic of biological response modifiers has attracted the attention of many biomedical investigators, including immunologists, oncologists, pharmacologists, microbiologists, and biochemists, as well as clinical practitioners of medicine. This has occurred mainly because of the realization that the complex system of cellular and humoral interactions culminating in a productive immune response is under exquisite regulatory control for normal immune responses and that loss of control may markedly influence the capability of a host to respond in a productive manner to the numerous immunologic "insults" encountered in the environment. Furthermore, biological response modification is considered by many to be a natural offshoot of the relatively new application of "immunotherapy" to cancer. It is widely recognized that "immunotherapy" was practiced at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century when it was recognized that microbial infections were caused by distinct species of bacteria and that passive administration of serum con­ taining antibody to these microbes or their products could, in many cases, favorably influence the outcome of an infectious process.

I. Introduction.- Immunostimulation in Cancer Patients.- II. Biological Response Modifiers Derived from Leukocytes.- Interferons: Several Questions and Few Answers.- Interferon Hybrids: Prospects for Therapy.- Immunoregulation by Lymphokines: Immune Interferon and Lymphotoxin Induction of Lymphokine Activity in Human Peripheral Blood Leukocyte Cultures.- Monoclonal Antibodies as Anticancer Agents.- Treatment of A Murine Leukemia with Chlorambucil Bound Monoclonal Antibodies.- Immune Response in Strain 2 Guinea Pigs to the Syngeneic L2C Leukemia.- Diminished Synthesis of Immunoglobulins by Lymphocytes of Patients Treated with Thymosin (TFX) and Cyclophosphamide.- Protective Activity of Thymosin ?1 Against Tumor Progression in Immunosuppressed Mice.- Effect of Thymostimulin on Human Lymphocyte Adenosine Deaminase and Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase Activities: Physiological and Therapeutic Effects.- Interleukins in Experimental Autoimmune Disease.- III. Biological Response Modifiers Derived from Microorganisms.- Muramyl Dipeptides: Prospect for Cancer Treatments and Immunostimulation.- Clinical Phase I Investigation of Intravenous Oil Attached Mycobacterial Components as Immunotherapeutic Agents.- Immunomodulating Effects of a Short-Term Oral Treatment with C 1821 in Untreated Cancer Patients: A Controlled Study.- Clinical Efficacy of Lentinan on Neoplastic Diseases.- Preclinical Evaluation of Lentinan in Animal Models.- Immunomodulation by Small Molecular Weight Bacterial Products.- Human Macrophages May Normally be “Primed” For a Strong Oxygen Radical Response.- IV. Synthetic Biological Response Modifiers.- Sodium Diethyldithiocarbamate (Imuthiol) and Cancer.- Isoprinosine and NPT 15392: Immunomodulation and Cancer.- Immunomodulation by NPT 15392 in Cancer PatientsUnder Chemotherapy.- Effect of Chronic Administration of a Synthetic Aromatic Retinoid (Ro 10-9359) on the Development of Lung Squamous Metaplasia and Epidermoid Cancer in Rats.- A Feasibility Study to Determine If Microbicidal Activity Can Be Measured in Dexamethasone-Treated Macrophage Cultures.- V. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.- Immunological Studies of Male Homosexuals With the Prodrome of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).- A Longitudinal Study of a Patient with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Using T Cell Subset Analysis.- VI. Workshop Summaries.- Clinical Evaluation of Immunomodulating Agents in Cancer with Emphasis on New Approaches.- Animal Tumor Models for Evaluating Chemically Defined Immunomodulators.