HDCN Article Review/Hyperlink

Gause BL, Sznol M, Kopp WC, Janik JE, et al

Phase 1 study of subcutaneously administered interleukin-2 in combination with interferon alfa-2a in patients with advanced cancer

J Clin Oncol (Aug) 14:2234-2241 1996

The prognosis for patients with advanced renal cancer remains poor. High dose interleukin-2 has been used in an attempt to induce remission, but severe toxicity often occurs. In this paper, a low dose combination of interleukin-2 and interferon alpha-2a are used in combination subcutaneously to treat patients with renal cell carcinoma. Partial remission, defined as a 50% decrease in tumor size for at least 4 weeks was found in 6/25 patients (24%). The treatment did not prevent side effects, including fatigue, fever, and nausea/vomiting, but side effects were much less severe than with the previously used high dose regimens.

The full abstract is available from the J Clin Oncol at this site.