Low-dose subcutaneous interleukin-2 in patients with minimal residual lymphoid neoplasm disease.
Eur J Haematol
; 62(4): 231-8, 1999 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-10227456
ABSTRACT
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a cytokine that became available for clinical use with the development of recombinant DNA technology. Patients with resistant or relapsed lymphoid neoplasm have been treated with high-dose IL-2 with some responses. The aim of the present study is to determine whether there may be a biological justification for the use of low dose subcutaneous (s.c.) IL-2 as maintenance therapy in patients with lymphoid neoplasm in complete remission with high risk of relapse. We treated 15 patients with sc IL-2, 4.5 Million International Units (MIU) daily, 5 days per week for 12 consecutive weeks, in the outpatient clinic. This therapy was well tolerated and could be administered in an outpatient regimen. It increased the eosinophil count (p = 0.009), but the number of granulocytes, monocytes, T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes did not change. The number of natural killer (NK) cells increased from 11% to 35% of all lymphocytes during IL-2 therapy (p = 0.0006). Effector lymphokine-activated killer activity (eLAK) also increased from 6x10(-3) Lytic Units (LU)/ml to 80x10(-3) LU/ml (p = 0.02). All these changes reached a "plateau" after the 4th week of therapy. The increase in the number of NK cells correlated strongly with the increase in eLAK activity (r = 0.96, p<0.0001). Disease-free survival was determined in 14 patients who completed the treatment and compared with historical controls. Patients treated with IL-2 had the same relapse risk (median time to relapse 11.1 months, 95% confidence interval 5.5-16.6) as did controls (median time to relapse 9.7 months, 95% confidence interval 1-27.7) (p = 0.9). Low dose s.c. IL-2 stimulated NK proliferation, which generated cytotoxic activity in vivo in patients with lymphoid neoplasms. However, these patients did not have a lower risk of disease relapse compared to historical controls.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Interleucina-2
/
Leucemia-Linfoma Linfoblástico de Células Precursoras
/
Linfoma
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Haematol
Assunto da revista:
HEMATOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
1999
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Espanha