Evaluation of the immunomodulatory activity of Aronia in combination with apple pectin in patients with breast cancer undergoing postoperative radiation therapy.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the immunomodulatory activity of Aronia in combination with apple pectin in patients with breast cancer in the course of postoperative radiation therapy. Monoclonal antibodies were used to assay specific T cell subsets. Tests were performed prior to and after 26 and 50 Gy of irradiation. The study comprised 42 women (19 to 65 years of age) receiving 15 g of apple pectin in combination with 20 ml of Aronia concentrate (Bioactive Substance Laboratory--Plovdiv) twice daily during postoperative irradiation. Irradiation was performed by a 60Co-Rokus according to individualized treatment schedules. The following T lymphocyte populations were tested--CD3 total T lymphocytes, CD4 helper and inducer T cells, CD8 suppressor and cytotoxic T cells and NK cells. The levels of the polypeptide tissue antigen (TPA), an oncofetal protein, were tested in parallel. The TPA was used to assess treatment outcome in our patients. A group of 25 age-matched women with breast cancer served as controls. Immune status analysis of controls was performed prior to and following postoperative radiation. A total of 880 serum samples were tested. Assays of immunity parameters in the patients receiving Aronia in combination with apple pectin showed that CD4 and CD8 T cell counts increased significantly (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05 respectively). In control patients CD3 T cell levels lowered, the other T cell levels remained unchanged. Initially the number of NK cells was increased in both groups of patients. It remained constant throughout the course of the study. The normal levels of TPA in both groups of patients indicated a good treatment outcome due to the adequacy of surgery and in combination with radiation therapy.