Impaired interferon-alpha production in whole-blood cultures from bladder cancer patients

Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) production was investigated in whole-blood cultures of 66 bladder cancer patients and 65 control subjects. IFN synthesis was induced with Sendai virus, and IFN activity was assayed in FL cells challenged with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). The mean levels of the IFN-alpha produced were 5,724 +/- 2,288 IU/ml in the control subjects and 4,800 +/- 2,353 IU/ml in the bladder cancer patients. IFN-alpha production was significantly suppressed in the bladder cancer patients compared with that in the control subjects (P less than 0.05). The impairment in IFN-alpha production correlated with the tumor grade, and it was shown that the tendency toward decreased IFN-alpha production was closely associated with the advancement of the tumor stage. Our results suggested that the decreased IFN-alpha production may contribute to the disordered immunoregulation in bladder cancer patients.