the present invention comprises anti - cancer agents and compositions comprising an immunostimulator known as urushiol . the urushiol compound has the formula : wherein r is selected from the group comprising ( ch 2 ) 7 ch 3 , ch ═ ch ( ch 2 ) 5 ch 3 , ch ═ chch 2 ch ═ ch ( ch 2 ) 2 ch 3 , ch ═ chch 2 ch ═ chch ═ chch 3 and ch ═ chch 2 ch ═ chch 2 ch ═ ch 2 urushiol occurs naturally and is the main constituent of the irritant oil in the leaves of the poison ivy , toxicodendron radicans , poison oak t . diversilobum and other plants of the genus toxicodendron hill et . al ., j . am . chem . soc ., 1934 , vol . 56 , p . 2736 . it is a mixture of several compounds which are derivatives of catechol and unsaturated c 15 or c 17 side chains and which , upon hydrogenation , yield the same 3 - pentadecylcatechol , q . v . or 3 - heptadecylctechol . by injecting urushiol into tissue , an inflammatory response will result . white blood cells will then enter the site to attack the antigen that initiated that response . by combining urushiol with other immunostimulators or with other cancer agents , the ability of white blood cells to kill tumors is enhanced . the urushiol compounds can be united with other immunostimulators to produce a new chemical agent . urushiol is a potent immunostimulator and is also an anti - angiogenic agent . urushiol will elicit a life long immunological response when used . the present invention then , comprises a method for treating cancerous tumors in a mammal in need of such treatment by enhancing the immune system to attack the tumors . the invention also is a method for enhancing the therapeutic effectiveness of other current drug and radiation therapies . the treatment comprises the use of injected urushiol in tumors , prior to , in conjunction with , or after treatment with cancer drugs , other immunostimulators , radiation therapies and other forms of cancer treatments . suitable secondary immunostimulators include cytokines , tumor - associated proteins and antigens , cancer vaccines , ultra - sound , photo - reactive compounds , anthracyclines , lipopolysaccharides , bacillus calmette - guérin , immunoglobulins , alpha - interferon , interleukin - 2 , synthetic agents such as levamisole or isoprinosine and mixtures thereof . in particular , the urushiol can be administered together with an anti - cancer agent such as : nitrogen mustards , ethyleneamines and methylmelamines , alkyl sulfonates , nitrosoureas , triazenes , folic acid analogs , pyrimidine analogs , purine analogs and related inhibitors , vinca alkaloidss , epipodophyllotoxins , antibiotics , biological response modifiers , alpha - interferon , platinum coordination complexes , anthracenedione , substituted - urea , methylhydrazine derivatives , adrenocortical suppressants , adrenocorticossteroids , progestins , estrogens , antiestrogen , androgens , antiandrogens , imiquimod , solvents that destroy cancer cells causing the release of cancer antigens and mixtures thereof . the following examples are provided to more specifically define and set forth the benefits of the compounds and therapy of the present invention . it is to be understood however , that they are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the spirit and scope of the invention as later set forth and recited in the claims that follow . various human cancer cell lines were used and cultured with rpmi 1640 containing 10 % fetal calf serum . the assay was performed by a method developed by kim et al 1996 . a cell suspension ( 3 - 40 , 000 cells / ml ) was made in culture medium and inoculated to each well of a 96 well micro - titer plate . one day after plating , the compounds were added and the cells were incubated for 48 hours in a co 2 incubator . the cells were fixed and stained . optical density was measured with a microtiter plate reader at 540 nm . growth inhibition was calculated according to standard methods known in the art . the administration of urushiol by itself showed very poor growth inhibition in comparison to adriamycin . the combination of urushiol and adriamycin however , resulted in a growth inhibition that was far superior to either of the compounds by themselves , producing a synergistic cell growth inhibition effect . a fifty - one ( 51 ) year old male in good health was infected with poison ivy on his legs . one of his legs contained two dark pre - melanoma or melanoma patches approximately ten inches apart . the poison ivy resulted in swelling and the formation of blisters . the poison ivy by itself did not reduce or eliminate either of the dark pre - melanoma or melanoma patches on his leg . the destruction of the other dark patch was enhanced by a sunburn , produced by uv light since urushiol will produce oxygen radicals , known to kill cells . uv light also produces oxygen radicals which destroy cells releasing tumor antigens , and three days after receiving the sunburn on the second patch , the area turned very red with erythema , as if infected . approximately 7 days later , the dark area disappeared , eventually leaving only normal skin . without being bound to any theory , it is believed that the poison ivy - derived urushiol in combination with uv light , destroyed the cancerous cells forming the dark patch of skin which totally disappeared . surgical removal of the second site substantiated the fact that urushiol acted as an anti - angiogenesis factor , killing local capillaries . it also enhanced the lines of demarcation between pre - melanoma cells and normal cells .
the present invention comprises a method for the treatment of cancerous tumors in mammals comprising the administration of an effective amount of an immunostimulator which enhances and potentiates the mammals own immune system to selectively attack and kill the cancerous cells . the immunostimulator , preferably urushiol , is administered in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and can be co - administered in conjunction with other immunostimulators , radiation therapy or other cytotoxic anti - cancer agents to further enhance their effect .