Final results of a multicenter placebo-controlled levamisole study of resectable lung cancer

Abstract

Two hundred and eleven patients with resectable lung cancer have been treated in a double-blind clinical investigation with either levamisole (50 mg three times a day) or a placebo given in 3-day courses starting 3 days before the operation and repeated every 2 weeks. The study was terminated after all patients had been in the trial for 2 years. The dose of levamisole used in this study appears to be sufficient only for patients weighing less than or equal to 70 kg and, therefore, future studies should make use of an individually adapted dose. Such a treatment is expected to prolong both the disease-free interval and the survival time without causing major side effects in a significant number of patients. This result is achieved primarily by an inhibition of hematogenous dissemination and occurs especially in those patients who had more advanced tumors at the time of the resection.