Effect of treatment with thymustimulin (Tp-1) on T and B cells in lymphoproliferative disorders.

The effect of the calf thymus extract thymustimulin (Tp-1) on lymphocyte subpopulations of 12 patients affected by lymphoproliferative disorders with low T-cell level was studied. T and B cells of four patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, three with Hodgkin's disease, one with myeloma and four with chronic lymphatic leukemia were evaluated before and after treatment for 3 months with Tp-1. The total number and the percentage of T-cells increased significantly (p less than 0.05) in patients with non Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma and only numerically in patients with chronic lymphatic leukemia, while no significant change of the total WBC count and of the total number and percentage of B-cells occurred in any patients. These results suggest that Tp-1 treatment might be effective in restoring immunocompetence in patients with T-cell deficiency secondary to lymphoproliferative disorders.