OK-432
OK-432 or "Picibanil” was developed in Japan in the 1960’s and 1970s. It is clinically approved in Japan, Taiwan and Korea as a treatment for (paediatric) lymphangiomas. OK-432 has been extensively, and successfully, tested as treatment for a variety of cancer types.
OK-432 is based on heat and Penicillin treated Streptococcus pyogenes (one of the two bacteria that William Coley had previously used in his Coley’s toxins) and treatment is based on its (regular) injection in the lymphangioma tissue (lymphangiomas are uncommon, benign malformations of the lymphatic system that can occur anywhere on the skin and mucous membranes).
Important cancer types for which OK-432 has shown a significant positive impact on survival include lung, gastric and ovarian cancer.
- Ryoma Y. Biological effect of OK-432 (picibanil) and possible application to dendritic cell therapy. Anticancer Res. 2004 Sep-Oct;24(5C):3295-301. PMID: 15515424.
- Mimura H. Japanese clinical practice guidelines for vascular anomalies 2017. Pediatr Int. 2020 Mar;62(3):257-304. doi: 10.1111/ped.14077. Epub 2020 Mar 22. PMID: 32202048; PMCID: PMC7232443.
- Watanabe Y. Clinical value of immunotherapy for lung cancer by the streptococcal preparation OK-432. Cancer. 1984 Jan 15;53(2):248-53. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19840115)53:2<248::aid-cncr2820530211>3.0.co;2-g. PMID: 6690008.
- Gochi A. The prognostic advantage of preoperative intratumoral injection of OK-432 for gastric cancer patients. Br J Cancer. 2001 Feb;84(4):443-51. doi: 10.1054/bjoc.2000.1599. PMID: 11207036; PMCID: PMC2363772.
- Wang YL. Combined Immunotherapy (OK-432, IL-2) With Chemotherapy Decrease the Recurrence Rate in Advanced Ovarian Cancer. Reprod Sci. 2019 Feb;26(2):244-249. doi: 10.1177/1933719118768684. Epub 2018 Apr 15. PMID: 29658435.