The role for interleukin-12 therapy of cutaneous T cell lymphoma

A H Rook1, M H Zaki, M Wysocka

  • 1Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA. arook@mail.med.upenn.edu

Recent phase I and phase II trials using recombinant human interleukin-12 (rhIL-12) for cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) have been completed. Observations on 32 evaluable patients revealed an overall response rate approaching 50 percent. Biopsy of regressing lesions revealed an increase in numbers of CD8+ and/or TIA-1+ T cells. These results suggest that rhIL-12 may induce lesion regression by augmenting antitumor cytotoxic T cell responses. Future trials will be focused on strategies for further immune enhancement by the concomitant use of additional immune augmenting cytokines with rhIL-12.

Related Concept Videos