THE USE OF A WHEY-PROTEIN CONCENTRATE IN THE TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH METASTATIC CARCINOMA - A PHASE I-II CLINICAL-STUDY

Glutathione (GSH) concentration is high in most tumour cells and this malt be art important factor in resistance to chemotherapy. Previous i n-vitro and animal experiments have shown a differential response of t umour versus normal cells to various cysteine delivery systems. More s pecifically, an in-vitro assay showed that at concentrations that indu ce GSH synthesis in normal human cells, a specially prepared whey prot ein concentrate, Immunocal(TM), caused GSH depletion and inhibition of proliferation in human breast cancer cells. On the basis of this info rmation five patients with metastatic carcinoma of the breast, one of the pancreas and one of the liver were fed 30 grams of this whey prote in concentrate daily for six months. In six patients the blood lymphoc yte GSH levels were substantially above normal at the outset, reflecti ng high tumour GSH levels. Two patients (#1,#3) exhibited signs of tum our regression, normalization of haemoglobin and peripheral lymphocyte counts and a sustained drop of lymphocyte GSH levels towards normal. Two patients (#2,#7) showed stabilisation of the tumour, increased hae moglobin levels. In three patients (#4,#5,#6,) the disease progressed with a trend toward higher lymphocyte GSH levels. These results indica te that whey protein concentrate might deplete tumour cells of GSH and render them more vulnerable to chemotherapy.