Preliminary observations on the effect of glucan in combination with radiation and chemotherapy in four murine tumors.

The efficacy of glucan in combination with local radiation therapy was measured using three solid murine tumors of differing abilities to induce a host defense. Using the KHT fibrosarcoma which induces no measurable host defense, glucan did not improve tumor-free survival over radiation alone; the combination produced a marginal improvement in tumor-free survival in animals bearing the highly immunogenic EMT-6 tumor. The most marked improvement in tumor-free survival was found with the mildly immunogenic 6C3HED lymphosarcoma. The efficacy of glucan in combination with BCNU chemotherapy was measured using the disseminated AKR transplantable leukemia; the combination yielded a high level of cures compared to no survival for either agent alone. Using the AKR transplantable leukemia in an F1 model, the effect of amphotericin B (AmB) alone or in combination with BCNU was tested. AmB or BCNU alone had little or no curative effect when tested in (AKR X DBA)F1 mice, but 56% of mice were cured when combined therapy was employed. When tested in (AKR X C57BL)F1 or (AKR X A)F1 mice, a small fraction was cured with AmB alone while about 90% were cured with either BCNU alone or the combination.