Levamisole: As Adjuvant to Cyclic Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer

Abstract

Sixty women under the age of 65 attending the Clinical Oncology Unit at Auckland Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand and who had symptomatic end-stage mammary carcinoma were invited to participate in this study after its nature and aims had been explained to them. Fifty-five patients were postmenopausal by natural or artificial means. Fifty-four of these women had failed to achieve a remission or had achieved and then lost a remission by a variety of hormonal manipulations both additive and ablative. A further six women were incorporated into this study as primary therapy because of the known absence of cellular oestrogen receptors or because of rapidly progressive visceral disease without knowledge of oestrogen receptor status. The 60 patients were treated between September 1975 and December 1976, the minimum follow-up being 15 months and the maximum 27 months at the time of reporting.