Interleukin 2 enhances the efficiency of immunotoxins in the treatment of mice with ascitic tumors.

ABSTRACT

Two multivalent immunotoxins (ITs) with cytotoxic potential against Thy 1.2-expressing tumor cells were used in association with mouse interleukin 2 (IL2) for treatment of mice bearing ascitic EL4 lymphomas. The combined treatment, ITs + IL2, induced an enhanced antitumor effect revealed by a significant prolongation of the survival time of mice as compared to the simple treatment with ITs or IL2 alone. According to the survival of mice treated by combined therapy, the proportion of killed tumor cells rose up to 94% as resulted from the dose-dependent curve of the survival of nontreated mice versus the number of tumor cells inoculated.