Decrease of tumor growth in mice after intravenous thymosin-treated bone marrow cell injection.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute1982PMID: 7047833

Plain Language Summary

This study demonstrated that bone marrow cells pre-treated with thymosin alpha-1 or thymosin fraction V, then injected intravenously, significantly retarded tumor growth and prolonged survival in syngeneic mice bearing methylcholanthrene-induced tumors. Thymosin alpha-1 was remarkably potent, achieving the same anti-tumor effect at just one-twentieth the concentration of the crude thymosin fraction V. In contrast, theophylline and levamisole, which have thymosin-like activity in vitro, showed no anti-tumor effect in this model.

Abstract

The effect of iv injection in C57BL/6 mice of 3X10(7) bone marrow cells preincubated in either thymosin fraction V or thymosin alpha-1 was evaluated on the growth of a 3-methylcholanthrene-induced transplantable tumor in a syngeneic system. The effect was then compared to that elicited by theophylline or levamisole, which both demonstrated thymosin-like action in vitro. The results showed significantly retarded tumor growth (P less than 0.001) and prolonged survival time (P less than 0.001) when thymosin fraction V was used. The same results were obtained with thymosin alpha-1 with use of the same protocol but only one-twentieth of the concentration of fraction V. Theophylline and levamisole demonstrated no antitumor effect.

Authors

Cupissol, D; Rey, A; Goldstein, A L; Serrou, B