Antitumor effect of arginine butyrate in conjunction with Corynebacterium parvum and interferon.

The antitumor effect of arginine butyrate, used alone or in conjunction with interferon (IFN), was studied using randomly selected Swiss mice inoculated i.p. with 10(6) 180 TG Crocker tumor cells. The results of these different therapeutic regimens were estimated by tumor incidence at 10 days, by the time necessary to protect 50% of the animals, and by the final survival rate. Combined treatment by IFN and arginine butyrate was effective; but in order to compensate for IFN's immune repressive effects, a single injection of Corynebacterium parvum was administered in some experiments prior to IFN and/or arginine butyrate. After this immune potentiation, both IFN and arginine butyrate used separately significantly protected the animals. However, optimal results were obtained when a single C. parvum injection was followed by nine daily alternating shots of arginine butyrate and IFN.